The Executive Power led by President Javier Milei presented the 2027 Budget bill to the Congress. In the framework of this Exposition of Motives, the official administration presented a thorough balance on the profound transformations applied to the structure of the State since December 2023, highlighting the drastic reduction of the workforce in the National Public Administration. According to the presentation, the Government stated: “The process of rationalizing the State involved reducing the number of Ministries and Secretariats and eliminating nearly 72,000 jobs in the Public Sector”.
Official data comparing the list of November 2023 with July of this year —the last available record— confirms that the total number of State workers plummeted from 343,357 to 270,835 people. This structural reform resulted in a loss of 72,522 jobs, representing a cleansing of 21.1% in the workforce. This adjustment was distributed across two major institutional blocks:
The president, Javier Milei
The National Public Administration itself, where the staff decreased from 233,098 to 183,520 employees, achieving a reduction of 49,578 people (-21.3%).
The state-owned companies and corporations, whose workforce was reduced from 110,259 to 87,315 workers, recorded a decrease of 22,944 people (-20.8%).
When examining the internal structure of the National Public Administration, the reorganization proved to be highly efficient. The centralized administration —which groups the ministries and the Cabinet Chief— led the percentage of cleansing by decreasing from 55,858 to 37,657 positions, which implies a drop of 18,201 people (-32.6%).
Meanwhile, the decentralized administration cut its staff from 136,763 to 111,117 employees, reducing by 25,646 people. Simultaneously, the deconcentrated administration reduced its workforce from 24,932 to 21,131 workers, representing a decrease of 3,801 people.
In a frontal battle against the duplication of functions, the government of Javier Milei reduced the ministerial structure from 18 to just 8 portfolios. A total of 12 ministries were eliminated as independent structures:
The president, Javier Milei
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Social Development
Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity
Ministry of Public Works
Ministry of Labor, Employment and Social Security
Ministry of Transport
Ministry of Tourism and Sports
Ministry of the Interior
All the operations of these portfolios were redistributed among the surviving areas and two newly created ministries. Among the newly created portfolios, the Ministry of Human Capital stands out —which concentrated the competencies previously distributed among Labor, Education, and Social Development— with a staff of 7,470 employees, and the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation, led by Federico Sturzenegger with 349 workers, the core of the administrative reform. Likewise, the Presidency of the Nation gained its own rank in the organizational chart with 4,149 positions.
In the surviving portfolios, the most marked cuts were recorded in:
Health: led the absolute reduction by going from 8,265 to 7,002 employees (-1,263 people).
Economy: decreased from 8,686 to 7,682 workers (-1,004 employees).
Foreign Relations, International Trade and Worship: fell from 3,048 to 2,438 positions (-610 people).
Defense: reduced its staff from 1,174 to 955 employees (-219 people).
Federico Sturzenegger
In contrast, the administration prioritized essential areas for combating crime and institutional order. The Ministry of Justice increased its positions from 1,553 to 2,858 (an increase of 1,305 people, equivalent to an 84%). Meanwhile, National Security added personnel from 1,254 to 1,408 (154 more people). Finally, the Cabinet Chief remained stable, with a slight variation from 3,330 to 3,346 workers.
The austerity plan was deployed over the state-owned companies and corporations, cutting 22,944 jobs (-20.8%). The reductions by company were as follows:
Official Mail of the Argentine Republic (Correo Argentino): led the absolute cut by going from 16,897 to 11,279 workers (reduction of 5,618 people).
Railway Operator S.E.: reduced its staff from 23,834 to 19,529 employees (4,305 fewer people).
Bank of the Argentine Nation: decreased from 17,806 to 15,425 workers (-2,381 employees).
Aerolíneas Argentinas: cut its roster from 11,899 to 9,976 employees (-1,923 people).
Water and Sanitation Argentina (AySA): lowered its staff from 7,799 to 5,933 workers (-1,866 employees).
The president, Javier Milei
In percentage terms, the reorganization recorded peaks of adjustment in:
Mint: reduced its staff from 1,411 to 694 employees (-50.8%).
Educar S.A.U.: went from 446 to 168 workers, registering a contraction of 62.3%.
The only percentage exception was Argentine Railways S.E. (FASE), which went from 73 employees in November 2023 to 501 workers in July of this year (increase of 428 jobs, equivalent to a growth of 586.3%). However, the official information itself clarifies that this jump is due to an administrative reorganization after absorbing in September 2024 the structure and personnel of Trenes Argentinos Capital Humano (Decahf), and not to a real expansion of the state structure.
Finally, the agencies grouped under the category “other entities” decreased their staff from 15,545 to 13,615 employees, representing a drop of 1,930 jobs (-12.4%)
