A significant reduction over five years through natural turnover, role redesign, redeployment and digitisation.
In a small island, the public service is not an abstraction. It is people.
It is the nurse on a late shift.
The teacher in a crowded classroom.
The social worker managing risk across multiple families.
When the system works, Islanders feel it immediately.
When it doesn’t, the pressure shows up everywhere.
We have made progress in recent years – including reducing reliance on agency staff. The current Government should be commended for this, But the underlying challenge remains: we are still spending too much for a workforce that is not yet designed for the future.
Reshaping the workforce is now unavoidable.
The Problem
Three issues are now clear:
• Agency spending remains high, even where usage has reduced
• Permanent roles are not always structured in ways that attract and retain staff
• Services are still organised around older models of care and delivery
This creates a paradox:
• We spend more
• Yet frontline pressure remains high
At root, this is not just a recruitment problem.
It is a system design problem.
A Clear Direction
If we are serious about sustainable public spending, we must reshape the workforce with the grain of change – not against it.
Because workforce cost is the largest driver of day-to-day expenditure.
And because simply converting agency roles into permanent posts will not work at scale unless the roles themselves change.
The goal is not a bigger workforce.
It is a better-designed, more self-sufficient, and more locally rooted workforce.
Three Practical Mechanisms
1. Redesign Roles Around Technology and Modern Practice
We should stop trying to recreate yesterday’s workforce.
Instead:
• Use digital tools to reduce administrative burden
• Expand multi-disciplinary teams
• Enable professionals to work at the top of their licence
In health and care, this means:
• fewer bottlenecks
• better patient flow
• less duplication
Only through redesign can agency spend be sustainably converted into permanent roles.
2. A Targeted Recruitment Strategy for “High Social Value” Roles
Jersey has shown it can attract individuals of high financial value through targeted approaches.
We should apply the same thinking to high social value roles:
• nurses, care professionals, teachers, and specialists workforce more generally
• people who directly sustain the island’s quality of life
This means:
• more proactive, international recruitment where local skills do not currently exist
• tailored relocation and support packages
• a clearer narrative about the value and purpose of these roles and why they do not exist locally
If we compete for global capital, we should also compete for global talent where it matters most.
3. Build On-Island Skills as a Strategic Asset
The most sustainable workforce is one we grow ourselves.
This must become a central pillar of policy:
This must become a central pillar of policy:
• expanded training pathways through investment in Highlands College and partners
• Work to establish an on-Island Medical School in partnership with a mainland institution
• on-island clinical and professional education more broadly
• structured career progression within public services
Over time, this:
• reduces reliance on external labour markets
• strengthens community resilience
• keeps more value circulating within the island
This is where workforce policy begins to connect directly to economic strategy and community wealth building.
Further Measures
Alongside these core changes, we should also:
• Continue to drive down agency spend, but link this explicitly to service redesign
• Improve workforce planning and data, so decisions are proactive rather than reactive
• Review pay and conditions to support retention in key roles
• Strengthen leadership and management capability
• Enable greater partnership with local businesses, charities, and social enterprises, where they can deliver services effectively
Over time, some services currently delivered by the public sector may be better delivered in partnership – strengthening both the workforce and the local economy
Closing
The public service workforce is not just a cost to be managed. It is a system to be designed.
If we get this right:
• we reduce long-term costs
• we improve service quality
• and we build a workforce that is rooted in the island’s future
If we get it wrong, we will continue to spend more – for less.
This is the kind of practical reform I will argue for – reshaping the system, not just managing its symptoms.
And I would genuinely welcome your view:
Where do you see the greatest pressure on our workforce – and what needs to change?
Contact me on bernardplace2026.com or bernardplace2026@gmail.com
