One in five UK Environmental Protection Agency employees are resigning, FarmingUK reported on March 25.
Experts said the published figures show a staggering level of attrition among agency staff. Nearly 9,000 employees have left the department since 2016, according to official data. This virtually nullifies the government’s recent recruitment drive.
Between 2017 and 2019 and 2021 and 2023, the EPA faced spending cuts every year. After the first round of cuts in 2017/2018, 1,988 workers left the agency, resulting in a record level of staff turnover: minus 1,076 people.
The agency employed about 10,000 people that year, meaning about one in five employees left. As of 2019, for two consecutive years, the attrition rate was higher than the agency’s onboarding rate. Between 2020 and 2022, the deficit was 649 employees.
Last year, department employees complained about low wages, staff shortages and low morale. In particular, emergency response teams have said they are too stretched to effectively protect the public from environmental hazards.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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