Raraunga Ohumahi 2022 — Te nekeneke Workforce Data 2022 — Mobility

Intention to leave

In Te Taunaki Public Service Census 2021, 13% of respondents were actively applying for another role (including secondments), while another 19% were applying for a new role or secondment in the next 12 months. A small number (4%) would like to leave but didn’t think they could. Overall, 56% of respondents had no immediate plans to leave their current position.

For those who were thinking of leaving their role, most were looking for roles within their own agency (61%). Many were looking at other Public Service departments (53%) or within the public sector (37%). Relatively few were seeking roles outside the sector (37%).

More than half of Public Service staff have been in their current role for 3 years or less, with nearly 3 in 10 being in their role for less than a year. Around 3 in 10 public servants have been in the same role for more than 5 years.

More than half of the Public Service has been working for less than 10 years in the New Zealand Public Service. A quarter have less than 3 years in the Public Service and just under a third have been in the Public Service for 15 years or more. Tenure in the public sector (which also includes working in other central or local government organisations) has a similar pattern.

On average, public servants who responded to the survey have worked in 2 public sector organisations.

Of those responding to the survey, 9% had entered the Public Service through a formal Early in Career programme (such as a cadetship, an internship or a graduate programme).