The Government is to embark on a limited round of senior Civil Service recruitments for the first time since a general moratorium in March 2009.

Competition will be advertised for generalist and specialist posts in Government departments and for junior diplomats in the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Although a number specific senior and specialist posts have been advertised and filled since the moratorium, there have been no general competitions for entry.

The number of civil servants is still set to fall in the next three years under cost-cutting policies. However, the decision to recruit again reflects a push to address skills gaps and an increasing age imbalance in the State bureaucracy.

A Government spokesman said 100 vacancies for generalists would be filled at executive officer level, the lowest of the senior entry grades in the Civil Service. Some 40 vacancies will be filled at third-secretary level in the Department of Foreign Affairs, the entry point into the diplomatic service.

An unquantified number of specialists with expertise in economics, policy analysis and human resources will be recruited at administrative officer level, traditionally the entry route for graduates.

Spending 'headroom'
The exact number of vacancies to be filled to be determined later, in line with an assessment of the spending "headroom" within each departments and the number of actual retirements from the service.

There will be a separate open competition for principal officers, the senior management grade. In addition, civil servants already in the system will have he opportunity to enter a competition for the assistant principal grade, the level just below senior management.

The Government believes the average age of civil servants at 46 to be “unacceptably high”.