The Northern Ireland Executive is set to commence a voluntary redundancy scheme in the public sector in January 2015. Whether or not such a scheme is necessary or desirable is not the subject of this piece.
This inBrief seeks to examine the potential impact of such a scheme on the Northern Ireland economy. Particular regions with higher concentrations of public sector employment will necessarily be more vulnerable to job losses. Similarly the breakdown of gender within the public sector implies that females may make up the majority of redundancies.
Key Points
- Evidence from other UK regions indicates that for every £1 spent on public sector employment, between £0.59-0.71 is spent in the local economy
- West Belfast, Foyle and West Tyrone have the largest concentrations of public sector employment in Northern Ireland.
- Female employment in the public sector in 18% higher than male employment
- There is no gender pay gap within the public sector in Northern Ireland
- A voluntary redundancy scheme could widen the gender pay gap and may have a disproportionate impact on certain regions