UK ‘may need 92,000 extra public workers if fall in productivity continues to 2030’

Rachel Reeves is under pressure to limit day-to-day spending before the budget in the autumn. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, could be forced to spend more than £5bn and employ 92,000 extra workers across the public sector if declines in productivity continue until 2030, according to analysis of official figures.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), an economic consultancy, said more workers would be needed by the end of the decade to achieve the same level of service, after a decline last year in the amount produced each hour by the average public sector worker.