Civil Service Jobs to Be Slashed in UK to Make Way for AI

The UK government plans to reduce its civil service workforce and integrate artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance operational efficiency, a senior cabinet minister revealed on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of a major Whitehall reform announcement, Pat McFadden did not specify how many jobs would be affected:

"The central civil service would and can become smaller.”

However, in a separate statement, he outlined a broader digitisation initiative, aiming for 10% of all civil servants to hold digital or data-focused roles within five years.

These reforms signal a strategic shift toward technology-driven governance, raising questions about the future of public sector employment and AI’s role in government operations.

He noted:

"No time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality.”

Job Cuts Accompanied by Spending Cuts

Under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Labour government is prioritising productivity as it seeks to stabilise public finances amidst sluggish economic growth.

As part of this effort, a civil service overhaul will accompany broader spending cuts set to be outlined by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her spring statement on 26 March.

Speaking to the BBC, McFadden attributed the surge in government hiring to Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He emphasized that the planned reduction in the civil service is about maximising efficiency rather than pursuing an ideological push to shrink the state.

The government also plans to introduce welfare reforms to address the rising number of people reliant on state benefits.

“It’s not fair on the taxpayer,” McFadden told Sky News, highlighting that the UK remains the only G7 nation yet to restore pre-pandemic employment levels.

The government aims to cut more than 10,000 civil service jobs through voluntary redundancies.

This follows a sharp increase in public sector employment, which reached over 513,000 last year—a 34% rise from 2016 levels.