PUBLIC SERVICE EMPLOYEES

In reply to the Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (21 June 2012).

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for the Public Sector): Shared Services SA actively monitors its workforce and detailed reports are produced on a monthly and quarterly basis. These reports include various workforce metrics, one of which is attrition rates, sometimes referred to as 'turnover rates'.

The attrition rates are calculated using the total number of employees who have separated over a 12 month period divided by the total average employee numbers in the organisation over that same 12 month period. The separations include all employees who leave the organisation for any reason including temporary contracts expiring, retirements, resignations and temporary assignments to other Agencies.

The attrition rate for Shared Services SA for 2011-12 was 18.2 per cent. Previous years are as follows:

2008-09 13.4%

2009-10 16.1%

2010-11 16.5%

A range of factors influence attrition rates such as the number of temporary roles, the current 'market' for particular skills where there may be a shortage, as well as classification levels.

Greater staff movement can generally be expected where there is a larger proportion of people at the mid to lower classification ranges. This is due to more people seeking promotional opportunities.

Shared Services SA has a significant percentage of employees that fall into this category. The latest quarterly report for March 2012 shows 66 per cent of employees are at the ASO4 level or below.

The workforce complexion, that is, the number of employees that are ongoing, on contracts and temporary, can be summarised as follows. It must be noted that these figures are not static and vary from month to month depending on particular circumstances.

The breakdown is taken as at 30 June of each year.

Shared Services SA has not had any employees declared excess since its formation and the risk of this happening in future is low.