A shortage of staff is placing fresh pressure on delivery of critical services, the ministry’s top official said this week, as recruitment advertisements were approved and an accelerated hiring plan put in motion. Permanent Secretary Selina Kuruleca confirmed there are about 40 vacancies to be filled and said the ministry aims to recruit within the current financial year.
Kuruleca told reporters the approved advertisements were signed off this week and recruitment processes would begin immediately, with the ministry working to fast-track appointments to restore capacity. She said the vacancies come at a challenging moment as the ministry implements major changes, including new information systems that increase the demand for ongoing training and capacity building among officers.
“The Ministry of Women serves more than half of the population. This includes women, children and the elderly, so the demand is significant,” Kuruleca said, underlining the scale of services affected by staffing shortfalls. She warned that gaps in personnel were already placing pressure on frontline service delivery and administrative functions as the ministry adapts to new workflows.
Staff movement remains a persistent concern, Kuruleca said, with officers leaving for overseas opportunities, the private sector, other ministries, or to pursue further studies. That churn, she added, complicates efforts to retain institutional knowledge and build the mix of skills the ministry now requires. “The staff we have are committed and hardworking. You cannot teach commitment,” she said, praising current employees while stressing the need to recruit candidates with diverse technical abilities.
The recruitment push comes amid broader public sector change since last year’s ministerial realignment under Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, when portfolios were reorganised across government. Observers say that reshuffles and shifting responsibilities can heighten demand on particular ministries and create transitional gaps in staffing and resourcing — a backdrop Kuruleca acknowledged in describing the ministry’s current workload.
Kuruleca said the ministry’s immediate focus is not only to fill vacant positions but to build a workforce with a broader range of skills so it can deliver services more effectively under the new systems. That will include continuous training and capacity-building programmes for both new hires and existing staff, she said, as the ministry seeks to stabilise operations and protect frontline services for women, children and older people.
Recruitment timelines and the specific categories of roles to be advertised were not disclosed on Wednesday, but Kuruleca’s confirmation that adverts have been approved signals a concrete step toward relieving staffing pressure. The ministry expects to provide further details on the hiring schedule and required competencies as the recruitment campaign gets underway.
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