Jersey's public sector headcount falls - but workforce capacity rises

A new report from Jersey's government says 288 fewer people were working in the public sector at the end of June 2025, compared to a year earlier.

However, while the headcount figure may be down, the government has also taken on the equivalent of around 300 new full-time staff in that time.

At the end of June 2025, 9,786 islanders were employed by the government in some capacity. Around 10% of those were on zero hours contracts.

Jersey's public sector has more permanent and full-time equivalent workers in June 2025 than a year earlier, while the headcount figure has decreased.

The Health & Care department saw the biggest change in staff, taking on the equivalent of 229 new full-time employees.

That has been put down to 64 Public Health staff being transferred from the Cabinet Office, and taking on new staff nurses and midwives, reducing reliance on agency workers.

FTE or "full-time equivalent" workers can be full-time employees, or several part-time employees doing the equivalent work.

Jersey's Chief Minister, Deputy Lyndon Farnham, said: "We have strengthened frontline services, particularly in health and education, by recruiting more people into permanent roles, while at the same time introducing a recruitment freeze in other areas.

"This has enabled us to reduce the overall size of the public sector, ensuring government works more effectively, and that resources remain focused on the services Islanders rely on most."

The gender imbalance in the public sector has also been revealed in the report.

More than three quarters of full-time staff in the Infrastructure & Environment, and Digital Services departments are men.

By comparison, women make up more than 70% of the Health, Education and People Services departments.

The gender breakdown of Jersey's public sector workforce. Staff who did not disclose their gender have not been included in the stats.

The report also highlighted that a quarter of women work part-time, compared to just under 6% of men.

Social workers, teaching assistants and midwives were the most sought-after roles by Jersey's public sector.

At the end of June, the government was advertising 66 vacancies, despite an ongoing recruitment freeze affecting several departments.

Children, Young People, Education and Skills was the department with the most roles unfilled, with a 1.5% vacancy rate.

Across the government, staff turnover appears to have dropped from 7.8% in June 2024 to 7.2% in June 2025.

You can read the report in full at Gov.je.