Mass Retirement: Over 10,000 Kerala Government Employees Retire Today
On Friday, a little over 10,000 government employees in Kerala are set to retire, according to data from the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository of Kerala (SPARK). Specifically, 10,560 employees will be concluding their government service. Annually, about 20,000 government employees retire in the state, with last year’s retiree count on May 31 reaching 11,800.
The significance of May 31 as a common retirement date is linked to an old practice where May 31 was often recorded as the date of birth when enrolling children in school, before birth certificates became mandatory in Kerala. This historical tradition has resulted in a large number of retirements coinciding on this date each year.
This practice highlights a unique cultural aspect of the state’s administrative history, leading to the phenomenon of mass retirements on May 31, which continues to influence the state’s public sector workforce dynamics.
