The foreign ministry should get rid of about a third of the old cadres who cannot work in the new conditions, State Secretary of the ministry Andriy Zayats said in an exclusive interview with LB.ua on Monday, 18 December.
"This figure is very subjective, but I would say that in order for our diplomatic service to be truly effective, we need to get rid of about a third of employees These are the ones who cannot work in the new conditions," he said.
The dismissed workers need to be replaced by new staff "capable of working in the new conditions, in a modern way, with full dedication. It comes to paradoxical situations when one of our colleagues in one of the embassies abroad refuses to go to meet the delegation at the airport at 20 o'clock, explaining that his working hours are over. At the same time, nether me as secretary of state nor the ambassador have no levers over this employee because technically he's right," Zayats said.
The new law on the diplomatic service adopted in the first reading on 7 December, provides for additional mechanisms to stimulate employees and discipline them.
"Frankly, there is certain cadre ballast that has accumulated over the decades of the ministry's work, and it pulls us back. Incentives and punishments that we have in our hands now are insufficient to update the composition of our employees to bring our diplomatic service to the level of modern-day requirements," the diplomat said.
Next year, foreign ministry will introduce electronic document management.
"And this is bound to be a big challenge, especially for the older generation of our colleagues. There is no alternative, however: we live in the 21st century and must work accordingly. We will have no choice but say goodbye to those unable to keep abreast of cutting-edge technology," the state secretary said.