The public service’s growth spurt – where it all went

MBIE went from fifth largest public service department to third. (Image: NZME)

Fri, 03 Nov 2023

The public service workforce has grown by about a third in the six years to June – roughly spanning the time the outgoing Labour government was in power.In June 2017, there was the full-time equivalent (FTE) of about 47,000 public servants – in the following six years, an additional 16,000, or 34%, were added.There’s been population growth and covid, but those factors alone don’t explain the current size of the public service, which is proportionately bigger than the last time Labour left office, although Labour can fair...

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