Workforce equalities profile 2022 to 2023

Employees aged 35-54 continue to make up most of our workforce (50.77%), however the proportions of under 25s within the workforce has reduced over the last year (4.99%) v.s 5.98%). Staff aged 25-24 (19.76%), 55-64 (21.13%) and 65+ (3.36%) making up the remainder of the workforce.

The top 5% of earners in the council is not reflective of the whole by age, particularly in the younger age groups. Those aged 45-54 continue to be most likely to be in higher paid roles (36.45%), and we saw slight increases in the top 5% of paid roles for those aged 55-64 (30.84%) and 65+ (1.87%).

This year saw an increase in turnover staff of aged 16-24 and 25-34, and an increase in retention in other age categories.

Apprentice data shows that 87.5% of those undertaking apprenticeships this year were aged 16-24 with the final 12.5% percent even split between those aged 25-34 and 45-54. This is very different compared to previous years where participant ages were more spread through the age groups.

Applicant percentages are broadly similar to last year with the around 54% of applicants aged 25-44, with slightly less applicants from the older age groups compared to last year (55+ 6.7% vs 7.75%). Hiring data suggests an increase of staff aged 16-24 and 35-44 were recruited during 2022/23, but less staff were recruited from ages groups aged 45+ compared to last year (20.16% vs 27.53%).

The proportion of staff declaring a disability over the last year was 3.45%, demonstrating a very slight increase from last year’s declaration of 3.15%. The percentage of disabled staff has decreased however amongst the top 5% earners, with 2.33% of staff declaring a disability (decreased from 3.37%). It should be noted that nationally 20% of the working-age population is reported to have a disability, with around one in four of these working in the public sector (Source: The employment of disabled people 2021).

We have continued to see a year on year increase in applicants declaring disabilities at the point of application and at interview, with this year’s percentage of hired staff with disabilities reduced very slightly compared to last year (5.04% vs. 5.28%).

Leavers with a disability remain representative of the declared population at 3.60%. This year has seen no staff undertaking apprenticeships declare disabilities.

Based on 2021 Census 20.1% of the population in Buckinghamshire were from an ethnic minority group. The proportion of staff from ethnic minority groups (which includes black, Asian, and mixed/other backgrounds) across council departments is currently 12.82%, showing an increase in declaration since last year (11.07%), as has the white group (54.47% vs. 50.25%). Whilst declarations of ethnicity have continued to increase, 32.71% of our staff have not selected or decided not to declare their ethnicity.

The top 5% of earners has also seen an increase in declarations, with 60.26% of this group identifying a white (vs. 5.14% ethnic minorities & 34.60% not declare/answered).

Declaration of ethnicity has increased for all groups when leaving the organisation. The percentage of staff leaving the organisation who identify as being from an ethnic minority group has risen to 14.11%, with 35.90% of staff still not declaring their ethnicity at the point of turnover.

Declaration of ethnicity at point of hiring continues to increase, with 79.72% of new staff sharing this information. However, there appears to be a reduced chance of success for applicants from ethnic minority groups (40.26% of applicants, 32.21% of interviewees, 20.05% hired), although staff who have chosen not to share their ethnicity appear to have a higher success rate (6.05% applicants, 6.50% interviewed, 20.28% hired).

48.78% of staff working for the Council have chosen not to declare or answer the question around religious belief. Whilst this percentage has decreased over the last two years (2021-2022 55.73%, 2020-2021 61.67%) it remains an issue when considering the validity of the religious data that has been declared.

25.82% of the council workforce have identified as Christian, with a further 19.77% declaring they have no religion/belief. The remaining 5.61% of the workforce (compared to 4.6% in 2021/22) have identified their religion/belief as Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or Other.

25% of apprentices chose not to declare their religions, with a further 43.75% declaring no religion. 18.75% of apprentices declared that they are Muslim, with the remaining 12.5% declaring their faith as Christian.

At the present time, only binary sex categories (male/female) are recorded for staff apart from when new employees enter the organisation, where additional gender identity options are provided for selection.

The current sex split is 69.31% female to 30.69% male, which is very similar to the last two year’s figures. The sex split of the top 5% earners continues to trend towards an increasing percentage of males compared to the organisational population (42.06% male vs. 57.94% female). Apprenticeship figures have also shown a continued increase in males apprentices within the organisation (62.5% 2022 vs 41.67% 2021 vs 30.49% 2020).

The gender split in leavers remains similar to the workforce representation however there has been an increase of males (up by 4.78%) leaving the organization compared to females (65.98% females, 34.80% males)

Applications from non-binary and trans candidates remain low, however more applicants have chosen to declare a gender/sex option at both interview and hiring stages. Hiring data shows an increase in success for those selecting ‘prefer not to say’.

The proportion of staff who have declared they are either: Bisexual; Gay man; Gay woman/lesbian; Other (collectively grouped as LGBT+) is currently 1.86%% of the workforce, demonstrating an increase from last year’s declarations (+0.69%). The proportion of council departments staff who have not disclosed their sexual orientation has reduced to 71.91%, a marked reduction for 81.63% 2021-2022 and 87.79% in 2020/21.

There has been a reduction in the top 5% earners (0.47%%) who identify as LGBT+ compared to last year (1.92%).

Data declaration for leavers has increased with 28.85% of leavers choosing to declare this information, showing both an increase in heterosexual and LGBT+ declarations. The data collected at each stage of recruitment suggests that an increase of applicants identifying as LGBT+ (6.46% vs 5.39%), with more LGBT+ applicants making it through to the interview stage (5.69% vs 4.81%) and being successfully hired (5.69% vs 4.81%), despite an increase at all stages of people selecting prefer not to say.

During 2022-2023 an increased number of staff left the organisation following maternity leave compared to the previous two years 15.66% vs. 7.06% vs. 7.41%. a similar number of returners the previous year (92.59%). It’s likely that the current financial climate has impacted on the choice or ability of new mother to return to the workplace, despite the enhanced maternity payments and flexible working policies we offer.