UNICEF Workforce & Recruitment Report – Semester 1 (2025) - Division of People and Culture

To: All UNICEF Colleagues

Workforce and Recruitment Report – Semester 1, 2025

Dear Colleagues,

UNICEF operates in some of the world’s most challenging places to reach the most vulnerable people, working to build a brighter future for every child. Our people are central to our mission, dedicated, committed, and essential to our success. The Division of People and Culture (DPC) is committed to providing clear and timely insights into these dynamics. By analyzing people’s data, we gain a better understanding of our workforce, highlight challenges, and identify opportunities that strengthen the overall employee experience and reinforce UNICEF’s ability to deliver.

The Workforce and Recruitment Report for 2025 Semester 1 shows the first decline in workforce numbers since 2021. Gender representation has remained steady since 2022, reaching parity in June 2025, with women now making up half of the organization’s workforce, a balance the organization aims to maintain.

The temporary and non-staff workforce remains essential to our operations, bringing flexibility and expertise. We had a closer look at temporary posts and consultant roles filled by retirees. As of June 30, retirees accounted for 0.9% of all temporary appointments and 1% of all consultants.

The analysis also highlights staff movements, separations, and recruitment patterns, providing insights into both current dynamics and longer-term trends in workforce composition. These insights not only help us understand where we stand today but also guide us in adapting to the future. They provide evidence to support decision-making, strengthen workforce planning, and ensure that UNICEF remains ready to respond to the world’s toughest challenges.

Explore the Workforce and Recruitment Report – Semester 1, 2025 for a comprehensive overview of the findings and visit the People Analytics SharePoint to explore the data in greater depth.

Warm regards,
Magassa

Magassa, Bandjougou
Director | Division of People and Culture
UNICEF New York Headquarters | 633 3rd Ave. New York, NY 10017

Click here for the full report

Below is a quick  a.i. review of the UNICEF Workforce & Recruitment Report – Semester 1 (2025), focusing on changes in total staffing and the scale of temporary and non-staff personnel. Please check figures against the actual report linked above - a.i. can make mistakes.

1. Overall Staffing Trends

• Total staff declined for the first time since 2021, from 17,793 (2024) to 17,388 (June 2025) — a 2.28 percent decrease

  UNICEF Workforce & Recruitment …

• Category composition:

  • International Professional (IP) = 5,261 (30.3%)

  • National Officer (NO) = 6,320 (36.3%)

  • General Service (GS) = 5,807 (33.4%)

• The decline reverses four consecutive years of growth.

• “Young UNICEF” staff (< 35 yrs) fell to 10.49% (from 11% end-2024). Staff under 30 remain scarce (2.2%).

• Average staff age = 45.85 years.

Key reason for shrinkage: the recruitment freeze imposed from 31 Jan 2025 and tightened through April 2025 in response to anticipated donor/O D A cuts.

2. Temporary Posts

• Out of 2,277 temporary posts, only 20 (0.9%) were filled by UNICEF retirees.

• Temporary appointments dominate staff separations:

  • 867 (67%) of all 1,290 separations were temporary staff (+8.8% over 2024).

  • Most common reason: appointment expiration (657 cases).

Temporary contracts are therefore both more numerous and more volatile, with fewer renewals and more expirations due to the freeze and post abolishments.

3. Non-Staff Workforce

UNICEF now relies on a non-staff cohort of 5,486, equal to 23.98 percent of its total 22,875 workforce (June 2025)

UNICEF Non-staff Workforce — as of 30 June 2025

UNICEF Non-staff Workforce — as of 30 June 2025

Category	Count	Share of Total Workforce	Female %	Notes
Consultants	3,624	15.84%	50.72%	38 (1%) are UNICEF retirees
UN Volunteers (UNVs)	1,661	7.26%	62.49%	~3.13% HQ-based; field emphasis
Interns	201	0.88%	76.10%	Avg. age ≈ 25.85
Total non-staff	5,486	23.98%	—	Total workforce = 22,875; Avg. non-staff age ≈ 33.22

Source: UNICEF, Workforce & Recruitment Report, Semester 1 (2025) — Non-staff workforce counts, shares, and notes (consultant retirees; UNV HQ share; ages).

4. Staff Movements and Separations

• Initial appointments fell 34 percent (y/y), to 487.

• Internal movements fell 22 percent (to 1,151).

• Separations rose 3 percent (to 1,290).

• Largest drop in hiring: GS (–47%), followed by IP (–36%) and NO (–22%).

• Top separation causes:

  1. Temporary appointment expiration (657)

  2. Post abolishment (133)

  3. Resignation/transfer (128)

  4. Retirement (102).

5. Recruitment Patterns

• Total recruitments = 1,074 (–50.4 % vs H1 2024).

• Emergency/fast-track recruitments = 259 (–23.6 %).

• Time-to-recruit improved slightly (65 → 62 days).

• Internal hires now ≈ 68 % of selections (up from 61 %), while external hires fell to 17.5 % (from 23 %).

• Women = 51 % of all hires and 55 % of IP hires.

---

6. Summary Interpretation

UNICEF’s workforce has entered contraction mode after years of expansion.

• The freeze sharply curtailed inflow of new staff, pushing reliance toward internal mobility and non-staff modalities (consultants and UNVs).

• Non-staff and temporary workers together make up nearly one-quarter of the workforce.

• Despite the downturn, gender parity reached an all-time high (50.07 %), but geographical diversity slightly regressed (rise in high-income country representation).

• The net effect: a smaller, older, and more precarious workforce, with institutional continuity increasingly maintained by short-term and external personnel rather than newly recruited permanent staff.