The Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has revealed that its workforce stood at 6,700 employees before the decision to dissolve the Road Development Corporation (RDC) and merge it into MTCC, noting that the majority of these positions are contract-based.
Speaking on TVM’s "Ahashay Bunanan" program, MTCC CEO Ahmed Saudhee clarified that of the 6,700 employees at MTCC before the merger, only 2,500 were permanent staff, while the remainder were hired on a contract basis.
He further noted that following the decision to merge the two entities, a significant portion of RDC’s 4,000-strong workforce would also join the company. He emphasised that the merger would ensure MTCC’s presence and personnel are established across every inhabited island in the Maldives.
"Before the merger of RDC and MTCC, we already had 6,700 staff. About 2,500 of those are permanent, while the rest are project-based employees. We are now observing that RDC also has over 4,000 staff," Saudhee said.
"Therefore, as these employees integrate into our company through the merger, our workforce will grow substantially. Looking at MTCC’s current project portfolio, there were only two inhabited islands where we lacked a presence, but RDC has projects there. MTCC will now have staff managing projects on every single island."
In an interview with Mihaaru last September, Saudhee stated that MTCC’s workforce was approximately 5,000. This indicates that the company’s headcount increased by about 2,500 over the past two months.
Saudhee previously told Mihaaru that the board had authorised a staff ceiling of up to 7,500, attributing the growth in personnel to the increasing number of ongoing projects.
However, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), including MTCC, have long faced criticism for mass hiring during election cycles and for political purposes. Notably, just eight hours before the recent council elections, MTCC opened applications for 48 positions with a deadline of only 11 hours.
On August 31, President Mohamed Muizzu informed the press that more than 6,000 employees would be terminated across SOEs as part of efforts to streamline operations and improve efficiency.
A circular issued by the Privatisation and Corporatisation Board (PCB) last July stated that under a policy to rationalise staff numbers, SOEs are required to reduce their workforce by 33 percent.
Citing a circular from April 18, the PCB instructed all state-owned companies to achieve this target within three months, effective from July 13.
Despite the ongoing downsizing efforts across SOEs, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) continues to allege that the government is hiring a large number of individuals for political reasons.
