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MoD to cut 5,000 civil service jobs in drive to reduce costs

The Guardian

|

November 22, 2024

More than 5,000 civil service jobs are to go at the Ministry of Defence in a drive to cut costs, prompting alarm among trade unions.

- Rowena Mason

Dave Williams, the MoD's permanent secretary, said the ministry was aiming to lose 10% of its 56,800 staff by the end of the parliament. It has already shed thousands under the previous government through a hiring freeze, which was due to end in March 2025.

The target was revealed by Williams at a hearing of the defence committee, and comes after John Healey, the defence secretary, said on Wednesday that he would be making cuts to equipment to save £500m.

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