18 December 2017

2017- n° 328

In 2016, civil service employment increased, except in local civil service Civil Service employment - December 2016

At the end of 2016, the French civil service employed 5.67 million persons including subsidised contracts, that is 20,400 more over one year (+0.4%). Subsidised contracts decreased in the three spheres of the civil service (−8,400, −4.3%) so workforce raised more excluding subsidised contracts (+0.5%).

Converted to full-time equivalents, annual employment incl. subsidised contracts increased by 0.2%, a little less than in 2015 (+0.3%), and reached 5.30 million.

In the state civil service, workforce at the end of 2016 including subsidised contracts increased by 1.0% over one year, after +0.1% in 2015. In ministries, the growth was +1.4% (+27,500). Two thirds of that rise was due to the workforce growth in Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research (+1.8%). The remaining part of the growth is explained in particular by new jobs in the Ministry of Justice and also in the ministries of Defense and Interior, in relation to action plans to fight against terrorism. On the other hand, in the Ministry of Economy and Finance and in the Ministry of Ecology, workforce still decreased. In public establishments, employment was down (−0.3%) due to a fall in subsidised contracts (−5.4%). Excluding those contracts, employment increased by 0.5% in public establishments and by 1.2 % in the whole state civil service.

Rising steadily since the 1980’s, workforce in local civil service almost stabilized in 2015 (+0.1%) and decreased in 2016 (−0.4%). Excl. subsidised contracts, it decreased by −0.3% in 2015 and −0.2 % in 2016. The drop was greater in régions and départements: −1.0 % incl. subsidised contracts, −0.7 % excl. subsidised contracts. The fall in the communal sector (−0.2 %) was entirely due to subsidised contracts which decreased by 2.5%.

In the hospital civil service, employment continued to slow down in 2016: +0.2% after +0.3% in 2015, incl. subsidised contracts. It was stable in hospitals but dynamic in medico-social establishments (+2.1% incl. subsidised contracts and +2.5% excl. subsidised contracts).