In 2023, the Individual Purchasing Power Guarantee (Gipa) benefited a record number of public officials. However, this bonus will disappear from 2024, arousing the anger of the unions.
The abolition of Gipa confirmed despite a record level
The Individual Purchasing Power Guarantee (Gipa), established in 2008 to compensate for the loss of purchasing power of civil servants in the face of inflation, will no longer be paid from 2024. According to a report published by the General Directorate of Administration and Civil Service (DGAFP), 188,000 public employees received this compensation in 2023, a figure never reached since its creation.
Gipa made it possible to maintain a certain level of remuneration for agents whose index salary had increased less quickly than inflation over a period of four years. It concerned both civil servants and contract workers, whatever their grade (categories A, B or C). In 2023, its average amount amounted to 663 euros per agent, compared to around 400 euros in 2022, a notable increase which reflects the impact of the surge in prices.
However, as part of a budgetary savings effort aimed at reducing public spending by 1.2 billion euros, the Minister of the Civil Service, Guillaume Kasbarian, confirmed the elimination of this bonus. A decision which takes place in a tense financial context and which did not fail to provoke union reactions.
Budgetary savings going badly
Public service unions strongly criticized this abolition, stressing that it penalizes public employees in an economic context marked by high inflation. « The government is once again calling on civil servants to make up the deficits », deplores a union representative. In response, several organizations called for a day of national strike on December 5, denouncing a decision perceived as unfair and disconnected from realities on the ground.
The DGAFP report also reveals that the data available on beneficiaries remains partial. The published figures focus only on civilian employees of ministries and higher education establishments, i.e. 1.7 million people out of the 2.5 million state civil service employees. “ In fact, there were more beneficiaries throughout the public service », Confirmed to AFP a source within the ministerial statistical service, regretting that the analysis cannot cover all aspects of the civil service.
For the unions, the abolition of Gipa sends a negative signal to public employees, whose remuneration is already considered insufficient to keep up with the cost of living. This measure, coupled with other budgetary restrictions, could intensify social tensions in a sector seeking recognition.
