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CONCLUSIONS

The strong growth in the size of the APS over recent years abated this year, with only slight growth in ongoing staff numbers, and a decline in the number of non-ongoing employees.

The ‘typical’ new starter in the APS is now a 32 year old with tertiary qualifications who is at the APS 3 level and more likely to be a woman than a man.

While the movement towards an older and more skilled workforce continues and with more women in senior positions, the past few years have seen variations in previous trends. These include a slowing down in the overall feminisation of the APS; stabilisation in the representation of APS 1 and 2 classification levels; and possibly a plateau in the 54/11 resignation trend. The decline in recruitment of trainee and graduate trainee classifications is of some concern after a strong increase in recruitment for this group last year.

The further ageing of the APS workforce is consistent with the general ageing of the Australian workforce, but from an overall older profile. The challenges for agencies, outlined in last year’s report, for workforce planning therefore remain a major priority.