Scottish Government Workforce Statistics June 2026

15 Sep 2026 12:08 PM

An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.

The latest quarterly Scottish Government Workforce Information statistics have been published today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician. These statistics cover the numbers of workers, staff sickness rates, and the diversity of staff up to the most recent quarter ending June 2026.

The statistics show that:

• At the end of June 2026 there were 8,563 full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff, a decrease of 3.3% on last year’s figure of 8,857 at the end of June 2025.
• There was a 39.8% decrease in the number (headcount) of contingent (non-directly employed) workers from the end of June 2025 (1,049) to the end of June 2026 (631), a decrease of 418 workers.
• In March 2026 and April 2026, 168 directly employed FTE (174 headcount) and 186 contingent workers were transferred from the core Scottish Government to Social Security Scotland and National Social Work Agency as part of a planned transfer of function. Between June 2025 and June 2026, excluding these staff changes, there was a decrease of 126 directly employed FTE (1.4%) and 232 contingent workers (22.1%).
• At the end of June 2026, 99.5% of full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff were permanent and 0.5% were temporary. Last year, in June 2025, these were 99.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
• The staff sickness level was 8.5 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year in the 12 month period ending June 2026. This equates to a loss of 3.8% of working days in this period. The 12 month period ending June 2025 had a slightly lower staff sickness level of 8.4 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year.
• Just over half (56.8%) of the workforce were female, compared to 43.2% male. The proportion of female staff is slightly higher than in the same period last year (56.7% in June 2025).
• At the end of June 2026, the majority of staff were aged between 30 and 59, broken down as follows: 30-39 (30.1%), 40-49 (29%), 50-59 (22.8%). 10.7% of staff were aged 16-29, and 7.4% were aged 60 or over.

Detailed statistics on the diversity and inclusion of the Scottish Government workforce, including the 2024 People Survey demographic data, are available at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-workforce-diversity-and-inclusion-statistics-2025/