Growth in government employee headcount
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WQ.14/2026
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHAIR OF THE STATES EMPLOYMENT BOARD
BY DEPUTY J. RENOUF OF ST. BRELADE
QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 26th JANUARY 2026
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2026
Question
"Further to the June 2025 Labour Market Report, will the Chair detail how many employees left the public sector compared to how many joined annually from 2020 to date; and will he further provide the total annual pay roll cost for the public sector from 2020 to 2025?"
Answer
The size of the public service headcount increased by a third between 2018 and 2024. That rate of growth is unsustainable. That is why this Council of Ministers has taken actions to curb the growth of the public service.
In August 2024, we took the decision to introduce an external recruitment freeze. If we had not taken that action, and the growth trajectory of early 2024 had been allowed to continue, then there would have been an estimated 515 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) additional employees by 31 December 2025. That is approximately £31m in staffing costs per year that has been avoided.
The table below shows the total headcount of permanent and fixed-term employees who commenced Government of Jersey employment for each of the years 2020-2025, as well as the number of employees who left Government employment in each period. It is notable that in 2025 almost all the increases were within the frontline departments of health and education. In that year, the number of net additional staff were: +157 in Health and Care Jersey and +50 in CYPES.
Year | New Starters | Leavers | Net effect |
2020 | 737 | 471 | +266 |
2021 | 867 | 590 | +277 |
2022 | 962 | 615 | +347 |
2023 | 1,172 | 579 | +593 |
2024 | 1,015 | 540 | +475 |
2025 | 879 | 655 | +224 |
Total annual payroll costs are set out in the Annual Report and Accounts each year.
2020: Page 210 – 211 R Government of Jersey Annual Report and Accounts 2020.pdf 2021: Page 276 – 278 R States of Jersey 2021 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf 2022: Page 188 – 190 States of Jersey Group 2022 Annual Report and Accounts 2023: Page 169 – 172 States of Jersey Group 2023 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf 2024: Page 138 – 139 States of Jersey Group 2024 Annual Report and Accounts.pdf
Payroll costs for 2025 are currently undergoing an annual audit and the figures will be published in the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, which is due to be published in April 2026.