Scottish Government Workforce Statistics December 2023
12th March 2024
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 2023.
The statistics show that:
At the end of December 2023 there were 8,824 full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff, a decrease on last year's figure of 8,848 (0.3%) at the end of December 2022. At the end of December 2023 the percentage of directly employed staff was permanent (99.2%) and temporary (0.8%). This is compared to last year (December 2022: 98.6%, 1.4%).
There was a 20% decrease in the number (headcount) of contingent (non-directly employed) workers from the end of December 2022 (1,790) to the end of December 2023 (1,436), a decrease of 354 workers.
The staff sickness level was 8.2 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year in the 12 month period ending December 2023, compared with 8.1 AWDL for the 12 month period ending December 2022. This equates to a loss of 3.6% of working days in the 12 month period ending December 2023.
Just over half (56.4%) of the workforce were female, compared to 43.6% male. The proportion of female staff is slightly lower than the same period last year (56.6% December 2022).
At the end of December 2023 the majority of staff were aged between 30 and 59, broken down as follows: 30-39 (27.6%), 40-49 (26.9%), 50-59 (23.1%), 15.6% were aged 16-29, and 6.8% were aged 60 or over.
The most recent diversity and inclusion information within the SG workforce can be found at https://data.gov.scot/workforce-diversity-2023/. This will be published at 9:30am on Tuesday 12 March 2024.
The latest Scottish Government Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Information statistics have been published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician. These statistics are based on data available as at 31 December 2023 and cover the diversity of Scottish Government permanent staff in core directorates, some agencies and some non-ministerial departments and the experiences of different demographic groups.
Data from People Survey 2023 for the Scottish Government workforce cannot be published until results for the wider Civil Service are published by the Cabinet Office. For that reason, this publication includes results from People Survey 2022 as the latest data available for public release.
The statistics show that:
At the end of December 2023, the diversity of the Scottish Government workforce varied in comparison to Scotland’s population aged between 16 and 64:
Female staff make up 57.4 % of the Scottish Government workforce, compared to 50.8% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64.
The Scottish Government workforce aged between 16 and 29 years old make up 15.8% of the workforce, compared to 26.6% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64; staff aged 60 years old or older make up 6.3% of the workforce, compared to 10.3% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64.
Disabled staff make up 15.4% of the Scottish Government workforce, compared to 20.7% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64.
Ethnic minority staff make up 4.2% of the Scottish Government workforce, compared to 5.8% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64.
Staff belonging to a non-Christian religion make up 3.7% of the Scottish Government workforce, compared to 4.2% of Scotland’s population aged 16 to 64.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or any other sexual orientation not including straight/heterosexual staff make up 8.7% of the Scottish Government workforce, compared to 3.5% of the Scottish population aged 16 to 64.
According to the People Survey 2022 (the annual UK Civil Service employee engagement survey), the Scottish Government workforce results on Inclusion and Fair Treatment varied by demographic and diversity group:
Female and male staff feel included and that they are treated fairly to the same degree (86.7% vs 86.7%).
The proportion of staff feeling included and treated fairly ranges from 90.5% of staff aged between 60 and 64 to 85.2% of staff aged between 30 and 34 or between 50 and 54.
Disabled staff are less likely to feel included and treated fairly (78.4%) than non-disabled staff (88.2%).
Ethnic minority staff are less likely to feel included and treated fairly (85.8%) than white staff (86.7%).
Christian staff feel included and treated fairly to the same degree as non-religious staff (86.6% vs 86.7%).
Straight / heterosexual staff are more likely to feel included and treated more fairly (87.1%) than staff with any other sexual orientation (83.4%).
Transgender staff are less likely to feel included and treated fairly (75.0%) than cisgender staff (86.9%).
Staff whose parents never worked are less likely to feel included treated fairly (81.5%) than staff from a high socio-economic background (87.2%).
