Hundreds of Greek civil servants demonstrated in Athens on Wednesday against plans by the government to axe thousands of state jobs this year to meet austerity goals.

Archaeologists, hospital workers and other public staff gathered outside the civil administration ministry which is tasked with planning the layoffs.

Hospital workers, who had earlier protested outside the health ministry, carried a banner calling Greece's international bailout deal "harmful to your health".

"Take these measures and go away," read another held by museum staff.

Athens has pledged to cut 4,000 state-sector jobs this year and 11,000 in 2014 to qualify for 8.8 billion euros ($11.5 billion) in EU-IMF loans next month.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund have committed a total of 240 billion euros in rescue loans to Greece since 2010, obliging the heavily indebted country to pursue austerity measures in exchange for the aid it needs to avoid bankruptcy.