FC 109/25


Finance Committee

Hundred and Ninth session

Rome, 9 – 13 May 2005

Comparative Study of General Service and Professional Staffing in other UN Organizations

Table of Contents

I. Background

1. At its 108th session held in Rome from 27 September 2004 to 1 October 2004, the Finance Committee requested the Secretariat to provide information on the relative numbers of Professional and General Service staff members serving at Headquarters locations in FAO and other organizations of the UN system. A comparative study has been undertaken for the organizations of the UN system listed in the table below.

II. Ratio of General Service to Professional Staff (GS to P ratios)

2. The following table sets out the numbers and percentage of Professional to General Service staff in the following organizations at these HQ locations.

Agency

Location

No. of
Prof. staff

No. of GS staff

Total
Staff

% of Prof staff

% of GS
staff

Ratio of GS to Prof.

UN

New York

2258

2759

5017

45.0

55.2

1.22

WHO

Geneva

751

720

1471

51.1

49.7

0.96

ILO

Geneva

537

623

1160

46.3

53.7

1.16

ITU

Geneva

320

529

849

37.7

62.3

1.65

WIPO

Geneva

446

487

933

47.8

52.2

1.09

WMO

Geneva

109

150

259

42.1

57.9

1.38

UNESCO

Paris

703

810

1513

46.5

53.5

1.15

UNIDO

Vienna

232

324

556

41.7

58.3

1.40

IMO

London

125

166

291

43.0

57.0

1.33

WFP

Rome

343

303

646

53.1

46.9

0.88

IFAD

Rome

181

222

403

44.9

55.1

1.23

FAO

Rome

1055

1122

2177

48.5

51.5

1.06

Average

  

7060

8215

15275

46.2

53.8

1.16

Source: CEB statistics as at 31/12/03.

Comment:

The above table indicates a spread of ratios of GS to P ranging from 0.88 at WFP to 1.65 at ITU. FAO’s ratio of GS to P is now below the average and less than many other agencies. FAO closely monitors in its budget process the GS to Professional ratios.

III. Comparison of Nationals of Host Country to Nationals of other Member States within the GS category at HQ’s

3. One member of the Finance Committee requested information on the proportion of nationals of the host country in the General Service category at each HQ duty station. The table below provides relevant statistics in this respect for each organization.

Agency

Location

No. of General Service staff at HQ location

Number of GS staff who are nationals of host country

% of GS staff who are nationals of host country

UN Secretariat

New York

2759

984

35.7

WHO

Geneva

720

89

12.4

ILO

Geneva

623

57

9.1

ITU

Geneva

529

75

14.2

WIPO

Geneva

487

32

6.6

WMO

Geneva

150

39

26.0

UNESCO

Paris

810

367

45.3

UNIDO

Vienna

324

177

54.6

IMO

London

166

58

34.9

WFP

Rome

303

170

56.1

IFAD

Rome

222

87

39.2

FAO

Rome

1122

616

54.9

Average

  

8215

2751

33.5

Comment:

The pattern in terms of the nationality of General Service staff employed at Headquarters duty stations varies among organizations of the UN system. Notably, there is a relatively small percentage of Swiss nationals employed in the HQ’s of Geneva-based agencies. Care should be taken in interpreting this data, however, as GS employment reflects the composition of the local employment market and large numbers of GS staff in Geneva are recruited from across the border in France which is effectively part of the Geneva labour market.

The percentage of nationals of the host country employed in the GS category in Rome-based agencies is comparable with that of HQ duty stations of Paris, Vienna and London.

IV. Conclusions

4. Over the past decade the number of General Staff employed at FAO HQ has decreased by 750 or 39%. This decline has largely occurred as a result of budget reductions, the impact of technology, and changing work requirements. Consequently FAO’s ratio of GS to P is now below the average of organizations of the UN system. Whilst FAO continues to monitor the relative proportions of GS to P positions, FAO is of the view that the key determinant of the ratio of GS to P posts should be the specific work requirements of the Organization.

5. Finally, the national composition of the GS workforce at HQ’s duty stations reflects very much the nature of the local labour markets (i.e. very international as in the case of New York and London and more homogeneous as in the case of Vienna and Rome). In Geneva the local market is strongly influenced by patterns of recruitment from across the border in France.