The size of Cayman’s civil service is growing and average government salaries reached a record high in 2020, according to a new government report.
Government’s annual human resources report for the year 2020 showed that Caymanian representation in the core civil service was at 70.8%, and 72% in the wider public sector, compared to 55% in the labour force.
Female representation of 55% in government was also five percentage points higher than across the labour force as a whole, said Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, as he tabled the report in Parliament on Thursday.
The average civil servant salary increased by $2,946 per year from 2019, mainly as a result of the 5% cost of living adjustment (COLA) that took effect in January 2020, as well as the decision to move the minimum salary of teachers to $5,000 a month, he said.
The average total annual salary in the civil service increased to $53,129.
The Economics and Statistics Office’s compendium for 2020 showed that central government employee numbers grew from 3,878 in 2018 to 4,102 in 2019 and 4,268 in 2020.
If statutory authorities and government companies are included, the full-time equivalent staff in the public sector increased by 3.9% from 6,390 in 2018 to 6,637 in 2019 and by another 3.9% to 6,897 in 2020.
Government services, healthcare and social work were the main growth sectors of the otherwise pandemic-hit Cayman economy in 2020.
Manderson said during that time the civil service adopted flexible and remote working protocols as a result of COVID-19 restrictions and implemented a differentiated honorarium towards those responsible for delivering the government’s COVID-19 response.
“These statistics demonstrate reasonable growth within the civil service, which ensures that we have the necessary human resources in place to deliver our purpose to make the lives of those we serve better,” the head of the civil service said.
Government’s personnel costs are set to rise under the approved 2022/23 budget to $437.7 million next year and $459.3 million in 2023.
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Must have skipped over the DMV
Do the “personnel” costs of $438million include all the medical expenses Government shells out, and in any event does Govt. know what the free medical coverage for their 6,900 employees costs them in total claims?.
At the same time the total population has dropped as a result of work permit holders returning to their home countries as a result of covid layoffs.
Are the general public getting better and faster service from the increased numbers of civil servants?
For example:
What percentage of emails don’t get replies? What percentage of phone messages left are not returned?