The number of people working in contingent roles for the Scottish Government declined from the end of December 2022 (1,790) to the end of December 2023 (1,436), a decrease of 354 workers, according to data from Scottish Government Workforce Statistics.

These statistics cover the numbers of workers, staff sickness rates, and the diversity of staff up to the most recent quarter ending December 2023.

Further data noted that at the end of December 2023 there were 8,824 full time equivalent (FTE) directly employed staff, a decrease on last year’s figure of 8,848 (0.3%) at the end of December 2022.

At the end of December 2023 the percentage of directly employed staff was permanent (99.2%) and temporary (0.8%). This is compared to last year (December 2022: 98.6%, 1.4%).

Just over half (56.4%) of the Scottish Government workforce were female, compared to 43.6% male. The proportion of female staff is slightly lower than the same period last year (56.6% December 2022).

At the end of December 2023 the majority of staff were aged between 30 and 59, broken down as follows: 30-39 (27.6%), 40-49 (26.9%), 50-59 (23.1%), 15.6% were aged 16-29, and 6.8% were aged 60 or over.

Meanwhile, the staff sickness level was 8.2 average working days lost per staff year in the 12 month period ending December 2023, compared with 8.1 for the 12 month period ending December 2022. This refers to the number of working days lost to sickness in a 12-month period per person on average. The 8.2 figure equates to a loss of 3.6% of working days in the 12-month period ending December 2023.