Scottish Government Workforce Statistics March 2026
18 Jun 2026 01:37 PM
An Official Statistics Publication for Scotland.
The latest quarterly Scottish Government Workforce Information statistics have been published yesterday 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 March 2026.
The statistics show that:
- At the end of March 2026 there were 8,641 full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff, a decrease of 3.1% on last year’s figure of 8,917 at the end of March 2025.
- At the end of March 2026, 99.5% of full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff were permanent and 0.5% were temporary. Last year, in March 2025, these were 99.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
- There was a 36.1% decrease in the number (headcount) of contingent (non-directly employed) workers from the end of March 2025 (1,075) to the end of March 2026 (687), a decrease of 388 workers.
- In March 2026, 143 directly employed FTE (148 headcount) and 185 contingent workers were transferred from Social Security Directorate to Social Security Scotland as part of a planned transfer of function to Social Security Scotland. Between March 2025 and March 2026, excluding these staff changes, there was a decrease of 133 directly employed FTE (1.5%) and 203 contingent workers (22.8%).
- The staff sickness level was 8.4 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year in the 12 month period ending March 2026. This equates to a loss of 3.7% of working days in the 12 month period ending March 2026. The 12 month period ending March 2025 had a slightly higher staff sickness level of 8.6 average working days lost (AWDL) per staff year.
- Just over half (56.6%) of the workforce were female, compared to 43.4% male. The proportion of female staff is the same as that in the same period last year (Mach 2025).
- At the end of March 2026, the majority of staff were aged between 30 and 59, broken down as follows: 30-39 (29.7%), 40-49 (28.8%), 50-59 (23%). 11.1% 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/
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