Covid-19 helps feed need for almost 4000 more public servants

Tuesday, 7 December 2021

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announces the Government has bought 60,000 courses of the new Pfizer antiviral drug to fight Covid-19. (Video first published Dec 6, 2021)

The Public Service workforce has risen to 61,100 employees over the past year, up by almost 4000, and battling Covid-19 was a major reason for the growth.

Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes said half of the 7 per cent rise (3950) in full time equivalent employees was directly attributable to the global pandemic response, which was one of the biggest challenges the country had ever faced, and about 40 per cent was to support other Government priorities.

He did not see growth continuing at the same rate in future, and said most of the increase over the past year occurred in the four agencies at the heart of the Covid-19 response

They were the Ministries of Health (450 staff for the response and vaccination), Social Development (850 for frontline services), Business, Innovation and Employment (250 for Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities) and New Zealand Customs (250 for maritime border orders).

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The Ministry of Health hired an extra 450 workers for its response to the pandemic. All up there are 8469 more full time equivalent public service employees than there were in 2019.

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According to Statistics NZ figures released on Tuesday, Government spending on employees was $30.6 billion for the year to the end of June, a rise of $1.6B on 2020, but $3.8B more than in 2019 before the pandemic struck.

The average annual salary in the Public Service in 2021 was $87,600, a 3.7 percent increase from $84,500 in 2020.

Hughes said the increase was a result of the lowest paid and frontline occupations receiving the largest increases in pay on average, and they included social, health, and education workers, and contact centre staff.

Last year the number of public servants paid less than $60,000 fell by 19 per cent to 11,780, while more moved into the $100,000-plus bracket.

Just over 18,300 staff in the Public Service and selected agencies earned over $100,000, which represents approximately 28.6 per cent of total staff.

The average remuneration for chief executives increased 0.6 per cent, but the net result over the last five years was a 4 per cent decrease.

Contractors and consultants accounted for just over 10 per cent of public service workforce spending, and Hughes said the downward trend reflected a commitment to more transparent reporting.

As well as getting bigger, the Public Service is also more diverse with small increases in the number of Māori (now 16.4 per cent), Asian (12.5) and Pasifica (10.2) workers.

The number of women in leadership roles was 53.5 per cent, up from just under 40 per cent a decade ago.

Half of chief executives were women, compared with 30 per cent in 2014, and the gender pay gap for women in the Public Service was 8.6 percent, down from last year's gap of 9.6 percent.

As of June, the average salary for men was $92,600 compared with $84,600 for women.

However, gender pay gaps varied greatly between departments, ranging from 24.5 per cent in the Ministry of Defence to -2.3 per cent in Oranga Tamariki where women were paid more than men.

Ethnic pay gaps have also decreased. By far the largest was for Pacifica (17.9 percent), followed by the Asian pay gap (11.6 percent), and 8.3 per cent for Māori.

Data showed that, like the gender pay gap, ethnic pay gaps can relate to the fact that Māori, Pacific and Asian public servants are over-represented in lower-paid occupation groups.

Earlier this year more than 40,000 staff from 36 agencies took part in the Te Taunaki Public Service Census that looked at issues such as diversity, inclusion, wellbeing at work, and strengthening Crown-Māori relationships.

It found most were strongly motivated to stay working in the Public Service because their work contributes positively to society, and of those looking for a job change, 37 per cent were considering a shift to the private sector.

Most public servants understood how their agency's Te Tiriti o Waitangi Treaty of Waitangi responsibilities apply to its work, and while more than half use at least some te reo Māori at work, fewer are proficient, with only 6 per cent able to have a conversation about a lot of everyday things in te reo.