Public sector employment in Scotland: statistics for third quarter 2019

1. Total Employment and Public and Private Sector Employment in Scotland; Headcount

(see Table 1)

Public sector employment increased by 16,420 (3.0%) between September 2018 and September 2019, while private sector employment decreased by 2.9%. This increase to public sector employment is mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services.

The public sector is defined according to the UK National Accounts Classifications Guide.

Figure 1 provides a summary of total employment in Scotland by public and private sector.

Figure 1: Public and Private Sector Employment in Scotland as at September 2019

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2019

Chart 1: Public Sector Employment in Scotland between March 1999 and September 2019, Headcount, non-seasonally adjusted

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2019

Chart 1 shows that the number of people employed in the public sector remained relatively constant between Q1 2014 and Q2 2018, before falling in Q3 2018 and rising again from Q4 2018 onwards. Excluding the effects of major reclassifications^[3] (i.e. taking out the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 3 from the overall numbers), the number of people employed in the public sector gradually reached a peak in Q2 2006, decreased to Q3 2013 and remained relatively constant until Q3 2018. The increase between Q3 2018 and Q4 2018 is mainly due to Cordia services moving back under Glasgow City Council services.

Chart 2 shows the annual change in employment for the public sector. Employment rose by 16,420 between Q3 2018 and Q3 2019. The annual change in Chart 2 prior to Q3 2019 shows the effects of Registered Social Landlords being re-classified to the private sector.

Chart 2: Annual Change in Employment for Public Sector, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2019

Impact of Excluding Major Reclassifications from Public Sector

If the major reclassifications^[3] were to be excluded from the public sector series (i.e. the headcounts for all large organisations listed in footnote 3 were taken out of the overall numbers), there would be around 546,000 people employed in the public sector in September 2019. This was 20.9% of the total employment in Scotland compared with 21.5% if major reclassifications are included.

Public sector employment, excluding the effects of the major reclassifications, would be around 13,000 (2.5%) higher in September 2019 compared with September 2018.

Chart 3 below shows that the overall public sector in Scotland increased by 16,420 (3.0%) between September 2018 and September 2019. Chart 3 also shows the estimated impact of removing major reclassifications from the series.

Chart 3: Annual Change (from September 2018 to September 2019) in Public Sector Employment, Headcount

Source: Public Sector Employment in Scotland, Quarter 3 2019
Note: Totals may not equal the sum of individual parts due to rounding