Public Sector

Public sector organisations are responsible for providing public services in the UK. This includes schools, colleges, universities, the police and fire service, local councils, the prison service and the armed forces. Public services are funded by government with money raised from taxes.

There are over

jobs in this sector in Hull and East Yorkshire

This accounts for nearly

of jobs in the region

Did you know?

In terms of employment, the public sector is the fifth-largest sector in Hull and East Yorkshire, after manufacturing and engineering, business and service, retail, and health and social care. Since 2015, the number of jobs with public sector organisations in Hull and East Yorkshire has declined by approximately 2,530, a decrease of 6.5%.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is East Yorkshire's largest public sector employer, with over 10,000 staff delivering more than 600 services.
In Hull and East Yorkshire, the largest public sector employers include primary schools (10,500 total employment), general public administration organisations such as local councils (6,500), secondary schools (6,000), the police force (3,000), higher education institutions (2,110), law courts and the prison service (2,050), and further education colleges (1,600).
Since 2015, the public sector employers in Hull and East Yorkshire with the largest increase in employment include the police force (600 additional jobs), law courts and the prison service (350 additional jobs), and secondary schools (250 additional jobs). Over the same period, employment numbers have decreased in higher education institutions (835 less jobs), general public administration organisations such as local councils (750 less jobs), primary schools (500 less jobs), organisations regulating healthcare, education, etc (500 less jobs), and further education colleges (350 less jobs).

Source: BRES (2025)

Will there be opportunities available?

Despite the decrease in public sector employment in Hull and East Yorkshire since 2015, demand for staff in the sector remained high across many areas in 2025. Eleven of the fifty most advertised occupations in the region were in the public sector, up from seven in 2024. Teaching assistant was the eleventh most advertised occupation (956 total online adverts), social worker the fifteenth (818), early education and childcare practitioner the twenty-first (656), teaching professional nec the twenty-third (640), secondary education teacher the twenty-fourth (635), youth and community worker the twenty-sixth (586), youth work professional the thirty-second (469), special and additional needs education teacher the thirty-seventh (376), and educational support assistant the forty-fourth (299).
Britain’s newest all-electric ‘smart’ prison, HMP Millsike at Full Sutton in East Yorkshire, created around 600 public sector jobs when it opened in March 2025, including roles for prison officers, medical staff, teaching and lecturing staff, and facilities and maintenance personnel.

Source: Lightcast (2026)

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Careerometer

The Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers. It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.

Use the boxes below to simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.