The Cayman Islands civil service has a workforce of 4,878, with Caymanians making up over 70% and women accounting for 55%, according to the latest statistics.
Deputy Governor Franz Manderson revealed the figures in a CIGtv video interview with intern Nya Roberts titled, ‘Inside government | The civil service through the DG’s eyes’.
“The vast majority of civil servants are Caymanians, which makes me very proud, and should make our community proud,” Manderson told Roberts.
The deputy governor revealed that 1,400 non-Caymanians work in the civil service, representing fewer than 30% of government employees.
The workforce includes more than 40 nationalities, which Manderson described as reflecting the broader community’s diversity.
Statistics showed that women receive 60% of all promotions within the civil service, with 47% of senior leadership positions held by women.
Manderson highlighted this gender balance as one of the service’s strengths in the eight-minute video broadcast on YouTube on 28 November.
Internship programme expands
The civil service reached a total of 5,000 employees during the summer when 200 young Caymanians joined as interns, Manderson said.
Having begun his own career as an Immigration Department intern in 1980, he emphasised the programme’s importance for exposing young people to public service careers.
A recent engagement survey found 90% of civil servants expressed pride in their government employment, which Manderson called “one of the greatest gifts” he had received from the workforce.
The deputy governor argued that residents often take government services for granted, from police patrols ensuring safety to vehicle inspections and same-day passport issuance.
“People don’t realise that if they woke up safely in their homes, it’s because the police were on patrol and kept them safe,” he said, listing various daily services provided by government workers.
The government launched campaigns titled ‘I am a Civil Servant’ and ‘I am a CIG Intern’ to showcase the diversity and talent within the public sector, Manderson said.
This responded to what he described as misconceptions about government workers’ capabilities and engagement.
The deputy governor positioned the civil service as essential to implementing elected officials’ policy promises.
He noted that “ministers don’t teach” and “do not go out and do patrols” but depend on civil servants to deliver services.
Customer satisfaction data, collected through the ‘Happy or Not’ feedback system, showed the civil service maintains a 93% customer satisfaction rating based on 1.6 million responses collected since 2018.
“There’s a few individuals out there that may never be happy, but we’re going to focus on our job to make the lives of people better,” Manderson said.
