Despite a total recruit of 1,791 civil servants in 2022, there was a net decrease of 855 civil servants
A total of 2,646 civil servants left the civil service of which 80 are from the executive and specialist category, 1,512 from professional and management, 848 from supervisory and support, and while 206 from the operational category.
According to statistics from the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC), as on December 31, 2022, the total number of civil servants stood at 30,194. The figure comprised of 25,341 regular civil servants while 4,853 are on a contractual basis.
The commission stated that the civil service strength has grown steadily over the past decade compared to figures in 2012 where it has grown by over 24% as of December 2022. However, the size in 2022 dipped by over 3% as compared to the previous year.
According to the Civil Service Statistics 2022, the attrition rate for 2022 is 8.62% compared to 4.82% in 2021. Similarly, as of 2022, there are 25,341 regular civil servants equivalent to 83.92% and 4,853 on contract which is equivalent to 16.07%.
By Parent Agency, the Ministry of Education, now known as Ministry of Education and Skills Development, has the highest number of contract employees with 3,255 followed by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs with 345, now renamed as Ministry of Home Affairs.
In addition, besides regular and contract civil servants, there are 3,490 Elementary Service Personnel (ESP) and 2,599 General Service Personnel (GSP) who are not considered as civil servants and therefore not accounted in the overall total.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, now renamed as Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, has the highest number of civil servants with 2,648 constituting 8.77% of the total strength of the civil service.
It is followed by Trashigang Dzongkhag with 1,558 constituting 5.16%, Samtse Dzongkhag with 1,484 constituting 4.91%, and the Ministry of Health with 1,455 constituting 4.82%.
Similarly, by parent agency, the Ministry of Education and Skills Development has the highest number of civil servants with 12,536 constituting 41.52%. It is followed by the Ministry of Health with 4,925 constituting 16.31% and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock with 3,149 constituting 10.43%.
By working agency, of the total 25,341 regular civil servants, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has the highest regular number of employees with 2,495 followed by the Ministry of Health with 1,374.
In terms of qualifications, the commission stated that 31 civil servants have PhDs and 2,584 had Masters’ Degree while 2,482 have Post Graduate Degree. In addition, around 7,986 civil servants have Bachelor’s Degree while 12,258 have Diploma or lower.
The commission also stated that amongst the 19 major occupational groups, Education and Training Services category had the highest number of Civil Servants with 10,180 constituting 33.72%, followed by the Administration and Support Services with 5,238 constituting 17.35%, and Medical and Health Services with 3,843 constituting 12.73%.
The Arts, Culture & Literacy Services and Foreign Services have the least number with 74 constituting only about 0.25% of the total strength.
According to the Civil Service Statistics 2022, about 75% of the civil servants are below the age of 42 years as on December 31st, 2022 and around 25% of civil servants are younger than 30 years. The median age of civil servants is 36 years.
A total of 6,952 civil servants equivalent to 23.02% fall under the 30-34 years age group, followed by 6,064 civil servants equivalent to 20.08% under the 35-39 years age group.
According to the commission, a total of 4,600 civil servants were promoted from January to December 2022. It includes 50 in Executive & Specialist Category, 2,476 in Professional and Management Category, 1,924 in Supervisory and Support Category and 150 in Operational Category.
Amongst the five Super Structure groups, Education Service has the highest number of civil servants with 11,473 and the least number in Executive and Specialist Service with 280.
Meanwhile, a total of 651 civil servants availed Extraordinary Leave as of December 2022 with the highest number recorded among the P3 position level which accounted for 180 civil servants, followed by 119 civil servants at P2.
In addition, there are 37 international volunteers as of December 2022, of which 25 are Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) volunteers.
The others include eight from Friends from Thailand (FFT) and three from Fulbright Scholars and Specialists while one is an Australian Volunteer who has been providing their services through remote volunteering.
Sherab Dorji from Thimphu
