Scottish Government Workforce Statistics December 2016

The latest quarterly Scottish Government Workforce Information statistics have been published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician. These statistics cover the numbers of workers, staff sickness rates, and the diversity of staff, up to the most recent quarter ending December 2016.

The Scottish Government Workforce Information December 2016 statistics show that:

• At the end of December 2016, there were 5,149 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) directly employed staff, a small increase from last year’s figure of 5,120 at the end of December 2015. The percentage of directly employed staff in permanent (97%) and temporary (3%) categories changed very slightly over the year (December 2015: 95%, 5%).

• There was a 5% decrease in the number of contingent (non-directly employed) workers, from 1,042 at the end of December 2015, to 992 at the end of December 2016, a decrease of 50 workers.

• The staff sickness level was 7.4 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year in the 12 month period ending December 2016 (3.3% of working days were lost). This is the same number of average working days as last year (7.4 AWDL December 2015).

• At the end of December 2016, just over half (50.9%) of the workforce were female, compared to 49.1% male. The proportion of female staff has increased by 0.3 percentage points from 50.6% at the end of December 2015.

• The majority of staff were aged 40-49 (29.9%), 50-59 (27.6%), and 30-39 (25.7%) at the end of December 2016. In contrast, 10.9% were aged 16-29, and 6% were aged 60 or over.

• The proportions of directly employed staff providing diversity information on ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion have all increased.
  

Background

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The full statistics are available at:

http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/8737

The statistics contain quarterly data from March 2012 to December 2016. The statistics present:

• full time equivalent numbers and headcounts in each directly employed staff category;
• headcounts of contingent workers (non-directly employed workers) engaged in work for the Scottish Government;
• sickness absence levels of directly employed staff; and
• headcounts of directly employed staff by: age, disability status, ethnicity, gender, marital/civil partnership status, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

The Scottish Government uses the data internally for monitoring the performance of its workforce. Other expected users of the data in this publication are likely to include the general public and media for information about the Scottish Government, and other government departments for comparative purposes.

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff. More information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/About