~Cg. 55.8 million allocated to personnel, but Minister says three new posts are “definitely not sufficient” to address capacity shortages across health, social development and labor.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor Claret Connor has acknowledged that VSA will continue to face significant staffing constraints in 2026, despite approximately Cg. 55.783 million being allocated to personnel costs.
The critical issue is not simply how much VSA spends on personnel, but how much additional staffing capacity the 2026 Budget actually provides.
According to Connor, the Budget contains approximately Cg. 297,000 to fill just three vacancies across a ministry responsible for public health, social development, labor, inspections, social assistance, ambulance services and several major reform programs.
The Minister made clear to Parliament that this will not solve VSA's staffing problem.
The three funded positions are “definitely not sufficient to address all of the capacity gaps across this Ministry,” Connor said.
Cg. 413,000 for Third-Party Hiring
The government is trying to compensate for some of those shortages by allocating another Cg. 413,000 for third-party hiring.
According to the Minister's presentation, that money is intended to support critical areas where VSA lacks sufficient internal capacity.
The arrangement raises an important question for Parliament: Why must VSA increasingly rely on outside personnel while its own structural staffing shortages remain unresolved?
And perhaps more importantly, which critical functions will be performed by third parties, how long will those arrangements last, and would filling permanent positions ultimately be more cost-effective?
Personnel Costs Already Cg. 55.783 Million
VSA's own budget presentation places total 2026 personnel expenditure at Cg. 55.783 million, an increase of approximately 2.6% compared with 2025.
The presentation identifies the major personnel components as gross salaries, pensions, social security and health coverage.
That means more than half of VSA's total Cg. 108.749 million program is associated with personnel expenditure.
Yet despite that enormous existing personnel bill, the Budget funds only three additional vacancies.
That distinction is important.
A rising personnel budget does not necessarily mean a ministry is receiving a significantly larger workforce. Existing salaries, benefits, pensions and other personnel obligations consume much of the allocation before additional workers can be hired.
VSA Carries a Massive Mandate
The staffing shortage becomes more significant when measured against what VSA is expected to deliver.
The ministry's public-health responsibilities include prevention programs, healthcare inspections, ambulance services, communicable and non-communicable disease programs, immunization, mental-health initiatives and emergency preparedness.
Social Development must simultaneously administer assistance programs and services for vulnerable households, seniors, young people, homeless persons and other groups while Government develops its new social-register and case-management system.
Labor must manage employment services, labor relations, compliance, permits, job matching, and efforts to move employable social-assistance recipients into the labor market.
Those are not minor responsibilities.
They involve some of Government's most direct interactions with residents.
Growing Demand, Limited People
Connor acknowledged that demand for medical assistance, social protection and workforce support is growing.
At the same time, he said both financial and human resources remain challenging.
That creates a fundamental contradiction within the 2026 VSA program.
The government wants more prevention, stronger inspections, better social protection, improved labor-market matching, healthcare reform, stronger emergency response, and better service delivery.
But the ministry responsible for delivering those programs says the three additional positions provided in the Budget will not be enough to close its capacity gaps.
The Cg. 413,000 allocation for third-party assistance may provide temporary reinforcement, but it does not by itself resolve VSA's structural staffing problem.
For Parliament, the question should therefore be straightforward:
If three vacancies are admittedly insufficient, how many employees does VSA actually need to properly execute its mandate — and what will not get done if Government cannot provide them?
Connor's own Budget presentation establishes the challenge.
VSA is being asked to do more, demand for its services is increasing, and yet the Minister acknowledges that the additional staffing provided for 2026 is not enough.