Empty desks litter Venezuelan state offices in low-pay exodus By Mayela Armas and Corina Pons
FILE PHOTO: Healthcare workers protest against low wages in Caracas
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan tax offices stand deserted, classrooms lack teachers, and utility bills go uncollected, as meager civil servant salaries drive chronic absenteeism and resignations in the hundreds of thousands.
After years of economic crisis in the once-prosperous OPEC member, many state institutions now work at a fraction of capacity as workers give up on incomes that barely feed them.
With fewer staff, state power and phone companies often ignore outages, the Caracas metro limits services, and the national tax body has abandoned its once-ferocious oversight of private companies, according to dozens of public employees.