Public Sector Employment In Scotland Statistics For 1st Quarter 2022

Summary

Key points (based on headcount data) include:

• In March 2022, there were 593,900 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, accounting for 22.1% of total employment^[1].
• In March 2022, employment in the public sector was 13,950 (2.4%) more than in March 2021.
• When major reclassifications are excluded, the public sector increased between March 2021 and March 2022 by around 14,000 (2.5%)^[2].
• Of the total 593,900 people employed in the public sector in Scotland, 538,700 (90.7%) were employed in the devolved public sector in March 2022, which is 14,150 (2.7%) more than in March 2021.
• Between March 2021 and March 2022, employment in the devolved public sector increased in Local Government by 8,160 (3.2%), in the NHS by 4,010 (2.3%), in the devolved Civil Service by 3,100 (13.9%), and in Further Education Colleges by 20 (0.1%). Employment in the devolved public sector has decreased in Police and Fire Related Services by -490 (-1.7%), Other Public Bodies by -400 (-2.5%) and in Public Corporations by -270 (-2.0%).
• In March 2022, there were 55,200 people employed in the Reserved Public Sector in Scotland, 200 (-0.4%) less than in March 2021. The Reserved Public Sector accounts for 9.3% of total public sector employment.
• Between March 2021 and March 2022, employment within the Reserved Public Sector decreased in the reserved Civil Service by -260 (-1.1%), increased in Other Public Sector^[3] by 60 (0.3%) and was unchanged for employment in the Armed Forces^[4].

16-24 year old employment in the devolved public sector^[5]

• In Q1 2022, there were 25,690 young people aged 16-24 in employment in the devolved public sector in Scotland, accounting for 4.8% of total employment in this sector. This is higher than the proportion of young people in employment in the devolved public sector in Q1 2021 which was 4.6%.
• The sector which employs the largest number of young people aged 16-24 is Local Government. In Q1 2022, there were 12,940 employees aged 16-24 working in this sector, accounting for half (50.4%) of all young people working in the devolved public sector in Scotland.
• Since 2021, the largest increases in the number of young people aged 16-24 years were in: Local Government (up 1,260) and Scottish Government Agencies (up 130); the largest decreases were in: Police and Fire Services (down 140) and Public Corporations (down 50).
• The sectors where young people aged 16-24 years made up the highest proportion of the overall workforce were: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal (7.9%, up 1.6 percentage points since 2021) and Scottish Government Agencies (5.5%, up 0.6 percentage points since 2021).