2025 saw the number of full-time equivalent staff across the States reach 6,775, an increase of 189 year-on-year. Staffing costs rose by nearly £20m.
The States has justified the figures, saying that recruitment had been focused on filling vacancies and reducing reliance on temporary and agency staff.
Deputy Williams said the public had a ‘reasonable and legitimate expectation’ that committees would rein in spending and employment with the latest Tax Review pending.
‘We need to be showing restrain and we are not.
‘Our pay bill went up 5% in 2025.
‘We all need to be questioning our spending.
‘We just need to get a bit real about this and making some tough decisions to gain some public support.’
He received some support from Deputy Rob Curgenven, who was concerned about a significant increase in public sector employees moving into the six-figure salary bracket in 2025.
He asked Policy & Resources to commit to looking at a recruitment freeze or something similar.
Deputy Charles Parkinson, on behalf of Policy & Resources, said that 144 new recruits in the public sector was ‘pretty creditable’.
Increases in the public payroll were ‘not wildly out of control’ though he admitted that pay rises in the States was ‘undoubtedly pretty burdensome’.
Increasing numbers of higher-paid staff did not mean more recruits, he said, it reflected pay rises.