Public sector growing six times faster than private sector

Wednesday 30 October 2024

More than six times as many new jobs were added to the public sector than the private sector in the past year, new figures have shown.

Statistics Jersey’s Labour Market Report, published this morning, found there was an increase of 70 jobs in the private sector and 440 core Government jobs from June 2023 to June 2024.

The departments with the largest annual increase in core staff were Children, Young People, Education and Skills, which increased by 190, and Health and Community Services, which increased by 150.

Pictured: Statistics Jersey’s Labour Market Report was published this morning.

The report showed the total number of jobs filled as of June 2024 was 65,290 – the highest number to date – and this can be broken down into 55,590 jobs in the private sector and 9,710 in the public sector.

Around 14.9% of the island's workforce is therefore employed by the Government, compared to 14.7% in the last report published in May.

And public sector jobs have increased by 24% over the last five years – compared to an increase of 4.5% across all sectors.

The sharp rise, which hugely outstrips that of the private sector, is perhaps surprising given that Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham pledged, and repeatedly reiterated those pledges, to "curb growth" in the public sector upon being elected to the top job in February.

He blamed a previous rise of 380 public sector jobs in the 12 months to December 2023 on the Governments that preceded him.

The Common Strategic Policy, published in April, stated: "We will curb the growth in the public sector and rely less on external consultants, instead developing local talent within the civil service and redirecting monies saved to those areas where it is needed most."

Pictured: A graph showing the rise in public sector jobs over time.

The report also illustrated the plight of certain sectors and the dominance of others – financial and legal activities remains the largest sector, accounting for 21% of jobs, while agriculture and fishing accounts for around 2% of the workforce.

Notable decreases were recorded in the hotels, restaurants and bars sector (100 jobs lost), the retail sector (80 jobs lost), and the construction and quarrying sector (160 jobs lost).

The figures underscore the recent challenging period for the construction industry, with Mitchell Building Contractors the most recent firm to fold after citing a "broken planning system" and "spiralling labour, plant and material costs".

Sectors where the numbers of jobs were on the rise include private education and health (130 jobs), financial and legal activities (120 jobs), and miscellaneous business activities (100 jobs).

Jersey's labour market report is published every six months and covers key aspects of jobs in the workforce for both public and private sectors.