Public role applicants lack diversity, watchdog
BBCApplicants for public roles do not reflect Jersey's diversity or talent, an independent body has said.
The Jersey Appointments Commission (JAC) oversees appointments to top jobs in the island to make sure the process is fair.
In its annual report for 2025, the JAC said too few people from diverse backgrounds were applying for public roles and not enough applications came from residents. It said it was "a continuing source of concern" that selection processes did not produce "both the breadth of diversity and the depth of quality within the island".
The States Employment Board has been contacted for comment.
The report continued: "The commission will continue to encourage recruitment activity to consider local candidates from all parts of the community, but it will not vary from its statutory duty that the best candidates should be selected.
"Recruitment partners should ensure they do not set unrealistic job characteristics when engaged in recruitment campaigns in such a way as to exclude local or, indeed, any candidates."
The commission said throughout 2025 it had helped with the appointments of 20 roles within the government and 16 with "arms-length organisations", including the Jersey Opera House's new CEO.
The commission said whilst "some progress has been made", "data collection and consistency challenges" remained.
It said companies were achieving a "broad gender balance" at appointment stage but that it remained "concerned" that not enough data on other forms of diversity were being collected properly.
It also said that the public sector should actively address its "under-representation of local minority communities" and that it should be a "priority for the public sector in its diversity and inclusion strategies".
The body added it was "available for discussions with all parties" who could support its aim to "improve the opportunities for a diverse recruitment pool for public vacancies".
Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
