Business of Government: Counting public servants

Storm clouds over The Terrace as public service cuts loom in Wellington. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Wed, 03 Apr 2024

Recruitment in the public service continued at pace in the dying days of the last government and the final months of 2023.The latest data on the public service workforce shows it grew 4.1% or by 2,582 full-time equivalents (FTEs) from June to December 2023.So, when the messages from both political parties were to hold back on recruitment and exercise fiscal restraint, the core public service grew to 65,699 FTE staff at Dec 31.This followed an annual increase of 4.5% (or 2,736 FTEs) in the year to June 2023 to 63,117 FTEs, up from 60,381 FTEs in...

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