With pay increases at triple the rate of the private sector and continuous hiring going on, the question is, in the event of a collapse, will the previously "untouchable" civil service jobs become eminently touchable? Will we see mass layoffs of civil servants?
Not without the country grinding to a halt as a result of mass strikes. There will be a rise in income taxes before there will be large scale layoffs of civil servants.
The ridiculous benchmarking may be thrown out the window though.