Swedish government to investigate ending “elephant graveyard” for officials

The Swedish government will launch an inquiry into abolishing the so-called “elephant graveyard” system, where former agency heads are reassigned to the Government Offices with full pay after their agencies are dissolved or they are removed from their posts, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reports.

Civil Minister Erik Slottner (Christian Democrats) told Swedish Radio that the current system creates unacceptable disparities between ordinary employees and director-generals.

“We have a system that clearly offends people, where the differences between regular employees and director-generals become completely unreasonable,” Slottner said.

The inquiry will explore replacing the practice with a severance pay system. Currently, eight officials are placed in the “elephant graveyard.”