29/07/2026
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The focus was once on the attrition of doctors and nurses; today, the alarming attrition of engineers has emerged as a critical concern that demands immediate attention. Several institutional and professional challenges have contributed to this trend, making it increasingly difficult to retain experienced technical personnel.
1. Engineers are entrusted with managing increasingly complex and high-value development projects while facing growing scrutiny through audits, investigations, and administrative reviews. The fear of audit observations and their potential impact on career progression and personal reputation has made the profession increasingly stressful and risk-intensive.
2. With larger annual development budgets and expanding infrastructure programs under successive Five-Year Plans, the volume and complexity of engineering work have increased substantially. However, the corresponding increase in human resources has not kept pace, resulting in excessive workloads for existing engineers.
3. Almost every engineering agency is operating with inadequate staffing. Vacant positions often remain unfilled for extended periods, and newly recruited personnel require considerable time to acquire the experience and competencies of seasoned engineers. Consequently, existing staff continue to shoulder additional responsibilities, frequently working well beyond official office hours. The extension of office hours from the previous winter schedule ending at 4:00 PM to a uniform 5:00 PM throughout the year has further reduced work-life balance.
4. Engineers who pursue postgraduate studies, including Master's degrees, often receive little or no recognition upon returning to service. There is generally no corresponding salary adjustment, career advancement, or meaningful incentive despite investing two years in professional development. As a result, many officers wait only until the completion of their service bond before leaving the civil service.
5. The tightening of policies governing Extraordinary Leave has reduced opportunities for engineers to pursue further studies, professional development, or personal growth, making public service less attractive compared to other employment sectors.
6. Although civil servants are entitled to 21 days of annual leave, heavy workloads and operational demands often prevent engineers from utilizing their leave entitlement. In many cases, a substantial portion of leave lapses without compensation, reducing one of the intended benefits of public service.
7. Engineers performing comparable technical roles outside the civil service often receive salaries four to five times higher than those in government. Combined with the rising cost of living, this widening pay gap has become one of the strongest drivers of attrition.
8. Existing allowances no longer reflect current market conditions. For example, a house rent allowance of Nu. 5,000 per month is significantly below the average rental cost of approximately Nu. 14,000-15,000 per month in Thimphu. Likewise, the DSA of Nu. 1,500 per day is often insufficient to cover accommodation, meals, and incidental expenses during official travel, placing an additional financial burden on employees.
9. The current IWP performance assessment system, particularly the mandatory bell curve or quota-based distribution of ratings, is widely perceived as unfair. Outstanding performance should be recognized based on actual merit rather than being constrained by predetermined quotas. Similarly, poor performance should be rated objectively without forcing employees into categories solely to satisfy statistical distributions. The existing system can result in inconsistencies, where officers with lower performance scores receive higher ratings than others with objectively stronger performance, depending on the agency's quota. Such perceived inequities reduce employee morale, undermine confidence in the appraisal system, and discourage high-performing engineers from remaining in the civil service.
