The number of civil servants employed by central government has risen by 13% to 565,000 since 1999, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The Financial Times reports that business leaders have criticised the government for creating too many public sector jobs which they say account for a large proportion of the recent rise in employment.
The Gershon efficiency review has identified £21.5bn of potential savings which would involve the loss of 70,000 public sector jobs.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: “The government wouldn’t have been able to do the things it has if they didn’t have the civil servants to deliver it.
“There is a real danger that it won’t be able to realise its ambitions in its new term of office because of the huge number of civil service jobs it is axing.”
