Public Sector employment picks up in Queensland

Posted on August 20, 2023 by Pete Faulkner - Jobs, QLD

Data for the May 2023 quarter shows that while Public Sector employment across the nation has remained relatively static over recent quarters, here in Queensland there has been a distinct move up.

Since August 2014 Public Sector employment across Australia has grown by 37.8%, far outstripping the Private Sector which has managed just 19.3% over the same period. However, when we consider things since the start of the COVID pandemic a very different picture emerges. Public Sector employment since Feb 2020 has been virtually static (actually it’s declined by slightly less than 0.1%) while the Private Sector has grown by 9.6%.

In Queensland things have played out quite differently. Since Aug 2014 Public Sector employment in Queensland has grown by 56.5% while the Private Sector is up just 17.7%; a far greater difference than at the national level. In addition, since Feb 2020 Queensland’s Public Sector employment is up 18% while the Private Sector has increased (+9.4%) in line with the national rate.

Queensland’s Public Sector has once again grown to be larger than that in Victoria despite having a population of just 80% of Victoria’s. Certainly, part of the reason why the Public Sector in Queensland would need to be larger than a comparable in Victoria is due to the far more decentralised nature of the Sunshine State, but the relative change in the past two years has been dramatic.

As a result, Queensland’s Public Sector has expanded to now represent 15.9% of total employment in the state; the same measure is just 14.0% at the national level.