Our Workforce
Workforce profile
All Workforce data is as of 1 April 2024. Whole workforce figures are used, based on headcounts, excluding schools.
Key measures
68.23% of Coventry City Council's workforce is female, which is higher than the overall percentage of female residents in Coventry which is 49.7% (% of Coventry residents aged 16-67 from 2021 ONS Census).
31.77% of Coventry City Council's workforce is male, which is lower than the overall percentage of male residents in Coventry which is 50.3% (% of Coventry residents aged 16-67 from 2021 ONS Census).
22.61% of the Council’s workforce is from a Minority Ethnic background, which is lower than the 34.5% of Coventry’s population (2021 ONS Census all residents). It should be noted that 10.32% of the ethnicity of the Council’s workforce is unknown, although we are working hard to address this.
6.97% of the council’s employees have declared a disability compared to 16.6% of all Coventry’s residents (2021 ONS Census). It should be noted that for 12.17% of the workforce this is unknown.
3.12% of Coventry City Council's workforce is LGBT+, compared to 3.16% of all Coventry’s residents (2021 ONS Census). The sexual orientation of over 25% of the Council's workforce is currently unknown.
Currently we have diversity data for 70.6 % of employees.
Change in employee headcount and Full Time Equivalent (FTE)
The size of the workforce has fluctuated slightly over the last 5 years with a marginal increase in Full Time Equivalent (FTE) since 2020 but no significant change from 2022 to 2024.
The 2024 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of 4188.8 was whole workforce as of 31 March 2024 (excluding schools).
Sickness absence
In 2023/24 the average days lost due to sickness absence per employee (FTE) at 13.4 was similar to the previous year (13.3).
The top three reasons for absence in 2023/24 were stress, depression and anxiety, musculoskeletal problems, and infections, cold and flu was the third highest cause of absence. This is the same as the previous year.
To support the reduction of absence, particularly in respect of stress, depression, anxiety and musculoskeletal problems, a number of new initiatives have been introduced over the course of the year. These include mental health support clinics aimed at supporting employees to access external and internal resources to support their mental health. Wellbeing clinics, which assess and advise on treatment for many physical health conditions. The wellbeing team have developed several training courses to educate the employee and manager on what support is available inside and outside the council. The menopause pledge, which includes the menopause clinic, menopause training and women’s network, continues to break down barriers to allow employees and managers to talk openly about the support an employee may need in work. The MSK (Musculoskeletal) clinic, ergonomic support and podiatry clinics continue to operate. There are also information sessions delivered yearly on topics such as reasonable adjustments, neurodiversity, carers support amongst other, in an aim to build a happy and healthier workforce.
The ‘Enabling Attendance Policy’ and procedure continues to be used. The focus of the policy is to keep people well in work and support managers to make the best decisions for their staff. We will continue to work to reduce absence further.