Fiji's interim government says it needed to reduce the compulsory retirement age to cut back numbers in the civil service.
A Presidential decree come into effect at the end of this week and those civil servants over 55 will leave their jobs.
The Permanent Secretary to the Public Service Commission, Parmesh Chand, says at over thirty thousand, Fiji's civil service is way too big and chews through a great deal of the government's budget.
He says this means funds are not available for spending on areas such as health and infrastructure
Mr Chand says despite concern for the people involved, the change needed to be put in force:
"This is quite a significant thing for those who are affected, we do feel for them because all of a sudden their stream of income will be affected, they will no longer be enjoying their regular source of income but the fact of the matter remains that this is an area of reform, the civil service needs it and the country needs it and we need to move ahead with this."
He says some highly experienced civil servants or those in areas with shortages may be re-employed on contract if approved by the Public Service Commission
However a number of sectors have said government services will suffer from the huge drain of experience