19/06/2025
Equality Commission press release
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has published its
latest monitoring report, providing a breakdown of the monitored workforce by community background for 2023.
Data from employers across Northern Ireland shows a monitored workforce of 598,854, an increase of 20,251 (3.5%) from the previous year.
Of the monitored workforce, 41.5% were Protestant (248,607), 42.3% were Roman Catholic (253,464), and 16.2% were non-determined (96,783). The number of individuals whose community background is recorded as non-determined continues to rise. Those individuals are included in overall figures but excluded from community background comparisons to ensure continuity in the way data is presented.
Key findings:
- The community background composition of the monitored workforce (excluding non-determined) was 50.5% Roman Catholic and 49.5% Protestant.
- Among job applicants (excluding non-determined), 53.2% were from the Roman Catholic community and 46.8% from the Protestant community. Roman Catholics have made up the majority of applicants since 2009.
- Among those appointed to posts (excluding non-determined), 52.9% were Roman Catholic and 47.1% Protestant. Roman Catholics have comprised the majority of appointees since 2006, with their share stabilising at around 53% since 2017.
- Women made up 52.8% of the monitored workforce (including those of non-determined community background), with representation at 45.8% in the private sector and 66.5% in the public sector.
Chief Commissioner, Geraldine McGahey, said:
“This year’s monitoring report clearly demonstrates that fair participation across our workforce has been substantially achieved, reflecting decades of progress since monitoring began in 1990.
Employers continued commitment to monitoring representation from both the Protestant and Roman Catholic communities remains essential. It not only maintains transparency and upholds good employment practices but also ensures that emerging issues are identified and addressed to promptly safeguard the progress made.”
The report includes data from both public and private sector employers. Employees not monitored include those in small private businesses (with 10 or fewer employees), the self-employed, and people in government training programmes. School teachers are also not included in the 2023 data, as legislation requiring monitoring only came into effect in May 2024.