Public administration

Sector introduction

The public administration sector covers local and central government and devolved administrations, and is a significant employer of doctoral graduates in the UK.

Jobs in this sector are popular with graduates as they often allow people to work locally, traditionally offer a measure of job security and can involve work with a direct impact on communities.

Public administration covers a very diverse range of roles, but it is currently undergoing a significant reduction in staffing levels as the government tries to reduce public spending. There are still opportunities, particularly in skilled roles, that may be attractive to doctoral graduates, but competition is always very fierce. At present, there are 19 ministerial departments, 20 non-ministerial departments, over 60 executive agencies which carry out government functions throughout the UK, and several hundred non-departmental government bodies, although numbers are changing as the government refocuses spending.

This sector has a strong focus on professional development and tries to provide rewarding work, with employers often good at offering flexible working patterns. However, changes in legislation and lengthy waits for changes to be approved can frustrate some employees.

Total employment figures in the sector are not always straightforward to amalgamate due to differing sources of information. Local government employment in England and Wales stood at 1,697,100 in Q4 2010; this equates to 1,099,500 full time equivalents (FTE) [Local Government Pay and Workforce Facts and Figures 2010/1].  Civil service employment, meanwhile, was 513,490 (470,760 FTE) in Q1 2011 [Civil Service Statistics Q1 2011]. Employment with the Scottish Executive was 493,100 in Q4 2010 [Public Sector Employment in Scotland: Statistics for 4th Quarter 2010]. This gives a total of over 2.5m people employed in the sector. In some parts of the country, over 20% of employment is in public administration.