UK payrolled employees: water supply, sewerage and waste
UK payrolled employees: water supply, sewerage and waste stood at 215,527 people in Aug 2026, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is one of the indicators in the Pay and employment from PAYE table (Value · Monthly), with a complete series running from Jul 2014 to Aug 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Pay and employment from PAYE table
| Indicator | 08-2026 | 07-2026 | 06-2026 | 05-2026 | 04-2026 | 03-2026 | 02-2026 | 01-2026 | 12-2025 | 11-2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payrolled employees by industry | |||||||||||
| E — Water supply, sewerage and waste | 215,527 | 215,842 | 215,346 | 214,614 | 213,590 | 213,639 | 213,075 | 212,324 | 211,854 | 211,426 | |
| F — Construction | 1,327,352 | 1,332,272 | 1,333,314 | 1,335,134 | 1,334,404 | 1,340,097 | 1,339,973 | 1,345,735 | 1,340,870 | 1,340,853 |
Understanding UK payrolled employees: water supply, sewerage and waste
Counting payrolled individuals across the United Kingdom whose work supports water collection, sewerage networks, waste treatment, and remediation activities, this series highlights environmental utility services. The figures encompass sanitation operatives, recycling facility workers, and environmental engineers on formal company payrolls, leaving out municipal contractors operating as independent entities. Unlike energy production, this sector deals heavily with municipal infrastructure maintenance and waste logistics.
Analysts examining these figures should keep in mind that public sector outsourcing contracts can cause sudden reclassifications of large groups of workers between administrative categories. Early estimates are prone to modest revisions as local authority contractors update their tax submissions. Year-on-year analysis provides the most reliable perspective, bypassing seasonal weather impacts on outdoor sanitation and waste collection routines.
Frequently asked questions
- How do local authority outsourcing contracts affect this series?
- When councils outsource waste services to private firms, the workers move between public administration and waste management industry classifications.
- Does this metric cover environmental cleanup and contaminated land remediation?
- Specialist remediation personnel working for registered corporations within this industrial classification are fully included.
- Are recycling plant sorters paid through employment agencies counted here?
- Agency-supplied sorters are typically counted under support services rather than directly within the waste management industry total.