Civil service headcount increased 4.6% in Q3 of 2023
(CNS): Alongside the unprecedented growth in work permits over the last year, the civil service headcount grew by 203 (4.6%) between September 2022 and September 2023, when it stood at 4,629, according to the Economics and Statistics Office’s latest publication. The Third Quarter Economic Report 2023 said there were 36,079 work permits during this period, which was 11.6% more than the third quarter of 2022.
However, more recent figures released by WORC show that the number of permits has increased even more and now stands at a record-breaking 36,972.
The number of civil servants, which does not include public servants working for statutory authorities and government companies, is one of the highest headcounts in the history of government. The ESO report found that the number of non-Caymanian civil servants has increased to 1,436, up 13.4% from 2022, while the number of Caymanian civil servants grew by just 1% to 3,193.
The Cayman Islands Government spent over CI$323.6 million on salaries and benefits for core government staff in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.6% over 2022. This was due to a $15.9 million increase in salaries and wages, a rise of $5.1 million in healthcare expenses and another $800,000 in government pension expenses.
According to the current budget for 2024/2025, the CIG will spend well over one billion dollars on staff salaries, benefits and other costs each year. This includes increasing the number of teachers, police officers and staff in other uniform services, as well as the headcount for both the promotion and regulation of the financial services industry.
See the full report here.
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Category: Government Administration, Politics
Madam Premier.
Respectfully – PLease install a 7 year rollover and hold on PR and Status for Contracted servants.
And.
PLEase Hold an urgent Education system review. one that involves parents and students!
This is beyond urgent and with embarassingly Low grades coming out of our Junior Primary Schools and setup kids for failure.
You want the Premier to commission a review of the education system she was in charge of for how many years? In other news the Turkeys have indeed voted unanimously for Christmas.
I applied for a policy analyst job in the CIG earlier this year. Guess they gave it to someone on a work permit who would work cheaper. Recently left my PhD in Economics, my MSc thesis is published in an academic journal. Very knowledgeable about economic environment, guess I wasn’t qualified enough.
For once, you do indeed sound well qualified. Have you tried getting your MP to enquire behind the scenes why you didn’t get the job and who did?
CNS doesn’t report on world’s news, yet due to proximity of Haiti to Cayman this should keep CIG on alert, especially after the recent mass shouting in Grand Cayman which remains unsolved.
💥A top UN human rights expert has likened conditions in Haiti to the “worst of times” in Somalia, saying the Caribbean nation has descended into unprecedented violence and chaos since gangs took over much of the capital last month.
“I’m running out of words, frankly, at this point,” human rights observer William O’Neill told the UN Human Rights Council earlier this week. “It’s apocalyptic, it’s like the end of times.” He added that the capital, Port-au-Prince, is suffering “a level of intensity and cruelty in the violence that is simply unprecedented in my experience in Haiti.”
“I’m amazed that you can’t get food or medicine into Haiti, but you still get guns and bullets coming in,” he said. “I can’t believe my government can’t inspect those boats leaving from the Miami River and pull out every rifle and bullet because Haiti doesn’t produce any guns or bullets.” He added, “If the gangs don’t have their guns or bullets, they lose all their power.”
Is Cayman ready for unimaginable scenarios? The world has gone bonkers. Anything is possible.
Just few boats of armed men could take full control of any of the 3 islands. Cayman is living under false sense of security. I hope CIG and the UK are aware that the world has changed dramatically in the last 5 years.
Today the world is a lawless jungle, embassies are no longer safe and are attacked with missiles and diplomats killed. Check the latest on Mexico embassy raid in Ecuador.
While Cayman is busy with domestic issues and is developing every sq.inch of its land, I hope someone is keeping an eye on its external security. Pirates of the Caribbean might not be a history yet.
Since the local population is in minority in Cayman and the territory’s defense could only come from the UK, a lot could happen before it reaches the Cayman shores.
Cayman flaunts its wealth firmly believing that there is no evil force exists that would want to forcefully take a piece of it. It’s no protection from such a force. I’d worry if I were Cayman Premier. The world has changed, indeed, and it’s changed for worse.
Long before COVID I said that a global scale event could happens that would bring Cayman tourism industry to a standstill.
2024. I monitor global events daily and something tells me that Cayman is vulnerable (unlike Bermuda). Unless a military base is setup on Cayman land or at sea, Caymanians are not protected from external, opportunistic invasions in small armed groups perhaps(pirates on the Caribbean) from their not so prosperous neighbors.
Haiti, Gaza, Doctors,Humanitarian aid workers, journalists being deliberately killed, Moscow mall attack, Mexican embassy invasion demonstrate that “humans” have freed themselves from everything human, from customs and decency and from their Christian attitude and have thrown them off like ballast.
Cayman can’t afford to be complacent about security. Internal and external. And everybody knows how a recent mass shooting was handled. I wonder why there is no review of RCIPS inaction immediately after the shooting.
In the US it would have taken just few hours or less to catch the perpetrator(s).
By revising the laws and processes and using technology we should be slowly reducing the headcount.
…quickly, but I guess doing it slowly would be MUCH better than the current shitshow.
All these government agencies and employees and Cayman is still residing in the abyss: my browser thinks I am in Bermuda, my phone thinks I am in Jamaica, and Google Maps opens somewhere in the UK. If that’s any indication of technological advocacy and prowess, then…
Franz Manderson’s expensive and unsustainable circus continues to grow while not demonstrating any consistency especially at the top of the carnival. The “world class” civil service he leads will bankrupt this country. The overall performances, costs and growth guarantee we will be driven over the financial abyss and into direct taxation to pay for all of it.
Emperor Franz strikes again. The real leader of the country on the road to its demise.
Increased head count by 203. Probably only 3 of them actually working.
7 of them are probably long since dead.
Cue the private sector, retirees and wealthy expats armada!
Grab your popcorn!
For real. As population increases yearly, the demand for public services does too.
The foreigner’s torches and pitchforks soon come anyway.
Bullshit.
Modern traffic cameras. No speeding. Less police.
Private Health Insurance. Private Medicine. Less underfunded public healthcare.
Automated administration. Less civil servants. Less expense.
British or IB curriculum, more relevant education, less unemployment. Less social services. Less expense.
Modern (private) public transport. Less roads. Less chaos. Less expense.
Proper law enforcement and prompt judicial action, less crime, less civil servants. Less expense.
Miller Shaw reports?
This is all insanity.
Yes, you sound insane if you believe all of that.
FEWER
Also you can stick your speed cameras where there is no sunlight.
yet we have 36K on permit here. Insanity at its best is always on display in the cayman islands government.
A billion dollars a year and they still can’t produce financial statements, not to mention the 2.5 billion dollar deficit for health retirement benefits not included.
Way understated, if you factor in the expats with status within government, which is guaranteed as there’s no equity with the Labor Laws/Permits. So they stay in til they get PR and Status. Then here comes another breed of freeloaders on healthcare, pension, education etc.
Erm, expats with status are Caymanians, bobo. Grow up. Or were you educated in those government primary schools which the recent report says are such total failures?
Booya! Good one, 7:04. Da wha’ he get for his foolishness.
Stop it. Remember back before you came here, just how you used to go beach and shuck out oysters with ya madda.
Like I’ve been saying for years, rather than enforce the existing immigration laws, government is happy to issue work permits to generate revenue, then continue to expand the civil service to employ Caymanians and pay them with that revenue. Everybody wins, right? Wrong. Caymanians need to wake up and push back against this. Remember how civil servants weren’t “allowed” to comment on the cruise port matter? Government employs the vast majority of the voting public, which makes it easier to control them.
Well, if we want more people here then the best place to put them is in the Civil Service. No need to worry about work permits. I can see the need for at least 25 to 30 people to manage the government’s fiberoptic cable link to the USA. Similarly, we should be concerned about hurricanes blowing down CUC poles. The only way to fix this is for government to run poles on the opposite side of the road and put wires in them so we will have a backup when CUC poles go down. It should take about 50 people to manage this new department.
Follow me for more good suggestions.
Disgusting details directly destroying Cayman and any question of its sustainability.
You should worry more about the education system.
don’t worry folks, nothing a 7 figure assessment and report can’t fix.
and then be ignored.
And yet nothing gets done here. The island is a mess, has anyone seen how people are living off fishing boats in residential areas? How cars are abandoned by the hundreds? How trash is all over the beaches? This is looking more and more like other Caribbean countries by the day. You lot who complain about Cayman culture need to speak up about those issues.
I’m a “You Lot”, Mr. or Mrs. High and Mighty floatsam.
How about banning the Floating Trash Heaps of CRUISE SHIPS that dump all you buggers’ busted out flip flops, syringes and sunblock bottles, all over the Caribbean Sea, and sea floor, DAILY!?
Then go clean up your own back yard from whence you were ejected.
KYD$323.6 mln x 4 = KYD$1.454 billion/yr, cash burn rate, just to cover staff payroll. That doesn’t cover territorial debt service payments, principal retirement on issued and outstanding bonds, public entity budgets, heavy entity subsidies etc. Nothing else. No rainy day reserves. Terrifying.
While productivity trends in the opposite direction.
More bodies, more public expense….less output and efficiency!!
Mr. Franz Manderson DG, what do you say to this??
Man busy. 5K soon.
1:04 let’s ask the DG to cut the civil service by 25%. Why should we concern ourselves with the growth of the population. We really don’t need more teachers, more police, more prison officers more social workers and we definitely don’t need more staff in the ministry of financial services. After all why care about issues like educating our children, public safety, national security and supporting our financial industry.
As a matter of fact let’s cut all the staff in the ESO so we don’t have to read another report containing important information.
Can we ask our DG to comment on this.
Get my point. Your post doesn’t make any sense.
By the way I just licensed my car without visiting DVDL and obtained my police record online. I appreciate the world class service.
Thank you CIG, your civil service is the envy of many. Let’s see how many private sector entities follow your lead on increasing maternity and paternity leave.
4:23. I hope you sign up for the DG5k which according to the press reports has raised over $500k for local charities. What have you done to improve the lives of the people in our islands?
I have taken part in the 5k ever year. I feel proud that I can give back to my community while living a healthier life style
Why don’t you try and be part of the solution.
DG supported.
1:04 let’s ask the DG to cut the civil service by 25%. Why should we concern ourselves with the growth of the population. We really don’t need more teachers, more police, more prison officers more social workers and we definitely don’t need more staff in the ministry of financial services. After all why care about issues like educating our children, public safety, national security and supporting our financial industry.
As a matter of fact let’s cut all the staff in the ESO so we don’t have to read another report containing important information.
Can we ask our DG to comment on this.
Get my point. Your post doesn’t make any sense.
By the way I just licensed my car without visiting DVDL and obtained my police record online. I appreciate the world class service.
Thank you CIG, your civil service is the envy of many. Let’s see how many private sector entities follow your lead on increasing maternity and paternity leave.
I love how low your bar is. You’re buzzing because you can renew your license online…. It’s only been that way everywhere else for 20 years or so.
Cayman all over. Very low bars and easily pleased voting population.
Explains the turkeys and gift cards that buy the votes. Turns out the turkeys will genuinely vote for thanksgiving on this island.
Time to fire or retire Franz this train wreck is too expensive
Half a BILLION of our tax dollars spent on education for Caymanians alone (a few token immigrants if they can get the places vacated by caymanians that would rather their children didn’t attend any school than attend a state school here) and the Civil Service benefits.
That’s outrageous. Disgusting. 50% of our entire budget essentially, is spent on 2 things.
Cayman is not capable of self rule. At all. Full stop. Period.
Cayman is being ruled by foreigners. Mainly from Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean. What you observe is not the product of the Caymanian people.
1.04pm FYI most kids in our Govt schools are Jamaican not Caymanian.
Cue the butthurt private sector workers complaining about civil servants because they’re getting paid for 7.5 hours but being forced to work 12:
I think we complain about civil servants because they are paid to work and don’t actually do any….
My butt hurts just thinking about your 37.5 hr p/w employment contract with non-contributory benefits, all paid for off the backs of hard working private sector employees.
Pride of thr CS right there. “butthurt”, you sound like you have a mental age of 10.
Civil servants’ only skill is tax farming: they are parasites on the private sector who actually generate wealth.
The tragic thing is that Caymanians suffer the most, as ever-increasing taxes to feed the gaping maw of civil service (AKA NAU-lite) salaries force up all costs.
A ‘Thanos-style’ elimination of 50% of the civil service (and 100% elimination of NAU) would be the best thing that could happen for Caymanins.
As dense as hardwood.
Clueless on how many Caymanians that would affect.
nothing to worry about…cig provides first class social welfare, healthcare, public transport, infrastructure, sustainable long term development plans….oopps.
scary stuff beyond belief.
this is when chamber of commerce and dart need to band together and petition the governor/uk for intervention.
cayman is spending itself into bankruptcy
Planes fly to the UK daily.
ha classic caymankind….
truth is they will be filled with caymanians who will not be able to afford to live here
No they don’t
Juliana’s need for retail therapy is the greatest I’ve ever seen.
to avoid making this a political footaball at elections…
the free solution is for a cross parliment agreement process of reducing civil service numbers of a number of years.
wayne tried to make savings to budgets but was then removced from power a number of weeks later…
They already put a freeze on hiring. Some departments are over bloated and other departments are understaffed.
another stat that flies in the face of all recommendations of the miller-shaw or ernst & young reports.
cayman is doomed with this level of government expenditure never mind the shocking level of incompetence and failure we get in return.
The Miller-Shaw report was stupid. One recommendation for one department was for someone to do the job of three people from three different departments which was impossible because that person would have to be trained for three different jobs and not trained like a 6 week course but have a Bachelor Degree in one discipline and a six month course in another.