Workforce and volunteers

• In 2021*, just under half (45%) of the workforce in the voluntary sector are employed by charities with fewer than 25 staff – over 413,000 people.
• 77,000 people (8%) work for charities with over 500 staff.

*figures from September 2021

• In 2016, on average, for every one member of staff four people volunteer for small charities.
• Smallest charities have higher numbers of volunteers per paid staff member, on average. Charities with an income under £10k have on average 36 volunteers and 2 paid members of staff.

• During the 2020 COVID pandemic crisis, there was a slight increases overall in the number of people working for charities, which has since fluctuated during 2021*.
• In 2021, the number of people working for charities with fewer than 25 employees has slightly decreased from 417,701 to 413,119. The number of people working for a charity with between 50-500 employees and over 500 employees has increased.
• Over the past six years, the size of the voluntary sector workforce has increased by 17%. In this time, number of employees working for charities with 500 or more employees has grown by 63%.

*figures up to end of September 2021

• 52% of small charities say that they can only meet their payroll costs for the next 1-3 months, with nearly 1 in 10 (9%) not being able to meet their present payroll costs.
• Around one-third (34%) of small charities intend to furlough staff, compared to 41% who did not.