Austerity? The Public Service Size Increased Again

In the March Quarter the Public Service workforce grew from 63,657 FTEs to 64,535. A quarterly increase of 1.4% and 12 month increase of 2.1%.

Ironically the Ministry for Regulation FTEs grew 11.6%.

The Ministry of Education grew by a whopping 341 FTEs up 8.9%. That total now stands at 4,176 and is approaching the June 2024 total of 4,387. That is in complete contrast to the pre-election promise to bring the Ministry of Education FTEs down to the pre-Hipkins total of 2,700. An estimate of the cost of employing a FTE in the Ministry would be at least $200,000. That means there is currently a broken promise of $295,200,000 per annum with the 1,476 extra staff. Money that would have plenty of better uses in education as, after 35 years in the sector, I have no idea what most of the education bureaucrats do.

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