New data from the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) reveals the widening gap between public and private sector employment, continues to show that government workers earn significantly higher hourly wages while working nearly four hours less per week than the national average, Diario Libre reports.
By the end of 2025, public administration and defense employees saw their workweeks shrink to an average of 36.4 hours during the final quarter. This represents a two-hour drop compared to the same period in 2024 (38.4 hours) and sits well below the national private-sector average of 40.3 hours.
Efficiency vs. earnings: The 10-year shift
The trend toward shorter days and higher pay in government has been a decade in the making. Since 2015, the average government workweek has decreased from 38.8 hours to approximately 38 hours annually.
Despite this reduction in time spent on the clock, compensation has surged. The average hourly income for government servants rose by 72.8% over the last ten years, climbing from RD$120.5 to RD$208.2—an absolute increase of RD$87.7 per hour.
Public vs. private income gap
The disparity in earnings became even more pronounced during the October–December 2025 period. The average hourly income for public sector was RD$219 for 36.4 hours. In the private sector, the average hourly income was RD$170 for 40 hours.
Government workers currently earn roughly RD$49 more per hour than the average worker in other economic activities. While public sector pay is high, it remains the fourth most lucrative field in the country, trailing only behind financial intermediation and insurance (RD$288.2), education (RD$259.2), and health and social assistance (RD$243.2).
Rapid workforce expansion
The public sector is not only becoming more lucrative but also larger, Diario Libre reports. According to BCRD records, the “Public Administration and Defense” sector employed 307,458 people by the end of 2025.
The 72.8% increase in hourly pay over ten years and the widening gap (RD$219 vs RD$170) provides actionable data for HR departments and CEOs regarding wage competition and “brain drain” to the public sector.
The data also points to an addition of 26,033 new employees in just one year, up from 281,425 in the final quarter of 2024.
And making matters worse, in recent years the severance payments scheme has been applied to public sector employees, even when a large percentage of these are political appointees and many jobs would fall in the wasteful spending category, draining resources needed for capital investments.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
10 March 2026