Sri Lanka’s power sector is bracing for a potential manpower crisis as around 2,200 employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), including 78 engineers and 18 accountants, have applied for voluntary retirement under the government’s restructuring programme. Internal sources warn that the mass exodus could disrupt electricity generation and maintenance operations islandwide, Sunday Mawbima reported.
According to the Newspaper, the employees seeking early retirement are among those unwilling to be absorbed into new companies formed under the restructuring plan. The list of applicants includes engineers, technical officers, electrical superintendents, clerks, and drivers, with about 400 belonging to the power generation division.
The CEB’s head office has already received 2,174 formal applications, while more are expected from regional branches. Out of 1,004 approved engineering positions, fewer than 680 remain filled—and of those, around 70 engineers have already left the country. With another 78 set to retire, the total number of engineers will fall to just 532, effectively halving the CEB’s engineering strength.
A senior CEB official described the situation as “deeply concerning,” noting that some power plants may soon have only a single operations engineer. He added that replacing and training new staff in the generation division could take up to six months, leaving critical operations vulnerable.
The CEB currently has an approved cadre of 26,783 positions, but only 21,800 are filled. If the 2,200 retirements proceed as planned, the workforce will shrink to around 19,600—reducing the staff by nearly 10% at a time when the state utility is under pressure to ensure uninterrupted power supply while undergoing major structural reforms.
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