COVID boosted government staff hires

The number of government staff increased by 2.3% as demand for substitute teachers and other public sector jobs reached an all-time high, as people recovered from COVID-19 or stayed home to look after their children.

A Cystat survey said that in March, total government employment increased by 1,237 (2.3%) from a year ago, reaching 53,881.

The increase is largely attributed to more casual staff hired in education to replace teachers contracting the virus or staying home to care for a dependent.

Compared to March 2021, an increase is observed in all three staff categories, civil service (0.1%), education (7.2%) and security forces (1.4%).

On the other hand, there was a decrease in all three categories of permanent staff, and the highest was observed in the civil service (-3.0%).

There was an increase in all three categories of casual staff, the highest was observed in education (23,4%), and hourly-paid workers remained stable from March 2021.

Compared to February, an increase was observed in civil service staff (0.2%) and education staff (1.3%), whereas a decrease was observed in security staff (-0,3%).

There was a decrease in all three categories of permanent staff; the highest was in the civil service (-0,3%).

Civil service casual staff increased (1%) and educational service staff (3.2%).

Compared to February, a decrease was observed in security forces staff (-0.4%) and hourly-paid workers (-0.2%).