ABSTRACT
In 1994 the UK government was still by far the largest single employer. Despite a massive privatization programme which dwarfs that of other countries; notwithstanding the reclassification of much of education and training to private sector non-profit-making bodies to deliver; and after allowing for extensive job cuts in core public services such as health and defence, more than five million people at the present time still work in the public sector. This represents one in five of the total workforce in employment in the UK and means that in scale terms alone the public sectors role in helping to achieve and maintain full employment is obviously of critical importance to the success of the overall strategy.
