Raraunga Ohumahi - Kāhua taipakeke Workforce Data - Age profile

The average age of the Public Service workforce as at 30 June 2024 was 44.2 years, slightly higher than in the previous three years (44.0). The average age of the workforce has trended down slightly from a peak in 2015–16 of 44.8 years. Before then, the workforce had been aging steadily, with the average age in 2000 being 40.8 years.

The proportion of the Public Service workforce that is 50 years or older has risen slightly in 2024, to 35.5% from 35.2% in 2023. This follows increases from 22.0% in 2000 to a peak of 37.4% in 2016 and then a gradual decrease through to 2023. This broadly reflects what happened in the overall New Zealand labour force where the proportion of workers aged 50 years and over went from around 22% in 2000 up to 33% in 2013, staying mostly level since then (it rose to 34% in 2021 before falling back to 33% in 2024).

Public servants under the age of 35 make up 29.5% of the workforce, down from 30.5% in the previous two years, but up from 25.3% in 2014. Contributing to that previous growth, particularly since 2016, was the increase in the Public Service workforce over these years. New recruits are generally younger and more ethnically diverse than the existing workforce. New recruits as a share of all employees (15.4%) is down from last year’s record high (21.4%) and at its lowest level since 2016 (14.2%). This is contributing to the fall in the share of public servants under the age of 35.

The following interactive visualisation allows you to look at how the Public Service age profile has changed by occupation and agency over the past decade. Asian, Pacific and MELAA employees have a younger age profile than European staff, and this may contribute to greater diversity in the Public Service in coming years.

Aged(XLSX, 138 KB)

Older Workers in the Public Service - Te Taunaki Census Findings

In the first Te Taunaki survey conducted in May/June 2021, more than 14,000 people responded who were aged 50+, who we define as older workers. Fifty percent of respondents aged 50+ and 30% aged 65+ had been in their role for less than 5 years, which indicated that older workers were being hired for Public Service jobs.

As people aged, tenure rates increased and the likelihood of looking for new roles declined. This aligns with research that reports older workers are loyal and offer stability in the workplace.

Overall job satisfaction was the highest among older workers with 71% being satisfied or very satisfied with their job. Older employees also reported they felt comfortable at work – an indicator that gradually increased with age (88% of those aged 65+ felt comfortable at work).

Flexibility is another factor that was valued by older workers in the Public Service with 63% saying this was highly important for staying in their role.  Of the 76% of older workers using flexible options, 25% used it because they had childcare responsibilities, 19% used it because they had caring responsibilities for other people, and 12% used it because they had a disability.

In all 62% of older workers felt they had access to the learning and development that was needed to do their job well, which was the same level as those younger than 50.  In addition, 63% of those aged 50-64 and 61% of those aged 65+ reported having completed work related training in the past 12 months. This did not translate to how satisfied older people felt about their development opportunities, which was reported at a similar rate across all age groups (between 50-60%).

Interesting work and being part of a workplace that contributes to a positive society were the two main reasons for staying in the Public Service regardless of age.