Since the numbers are large they are, such a change has no bearing on anything given those characters are NPCs.
Furthermore, employee count is not a stat that counts for anything, much like the name of a department does not count for anything.
This is not any sort of play and I can revert it easily, I'm just editing a meaningless statistic to make more sense for recent events.
As for "real" changes, much like Akemi's has been aggressively expanding, IIS has gained a few heads as well.
Clubbo and Horizon are bunking on the Avalon as well as their support structure and all others necessary to accommodate such a change.
Secondarily, as more and more RP is being written, various things are changing this figure. For example, I've talked to Bullroarer about hiring MECHA for VIP retrieval, I can imagine the expansion taking place before that RP to facilitate it also adds to this number.
I'm also gearing up with the help of Legix to RP the Avalon's return to Nepleslian space, which he allowed a while ago but we haven't had the time to RP. This is likely to need a new support structure as the Avalon's previous location was likely less connected than its new positioning, requiring more freighters etc.
Various other going ons are happening, with the Eye III line and Mercian production starting, many more hands will be taking part in one way or another to inflate this number. As it stood when the company last was cleared through approval there was no mass ship production taking place in the company to the extent it is now with the Mercian, as it is IIS's first signature craft which is mainstream as opposed to specialised. This would require the employment or involvement of many more people to mobilise. Especially given the shipyards on the Avalon have been busy making civillian products for the longest time and it's unlikely they'd cut one down for the sake of another.
Horizon's own production is currently being done on their behalf by IIS, again requiring the opening of new production lines to accommodate another company, including support and logistical staff around that.
Finally, I have plans in the works to work with Section 6, as well as likely MECHA and others to train a security wing for IIS for areas outside of Yamatai. It's been in planning for a long time, starting when FSC intercepted a fleet of IIS ships. Given I'll be opening this up at some point in the future, the training and employment of these new people have been incorporated into the figure, with my RP with Jack discussing this any time now.
I'm also looking to purchase additional stations to accommodate the new production lines in the works, it's likely many people are being drafted and signed to fulfil this.
Additionally, I talked to Polygon during the construction of the Mercian and we agreed on Junkers and their Freespacer handlers from the Wire Guided being employed by IIS as the main workforce for the Mercians, as they are in the specifications the main means of construction. These have been incorporated.
In time since the original approval, as it stands IIS has expanded from not only Yamatai. I've had dealings with Freespacers, Elysia, various companies in USO, Nepleslia to some extent and more. There are imminent plans involving the Neshashen, MECHA, more Section 6, Baba Yaga, more I can't think of currently.
I can reduce the number easily if you don't like the aesthetic change, this was more a pre-emptive change to accommodate for these large expansions that have been going on atop many planets scattered across the Sector. After all, the original 15 million employees was the amount the Avalon alone as a station was designed for and since then they've done a lot of other things. There are branches on many of these worlds not accounted for, there would have to be given the distance between the Avalon and any given place in the Kikyo sector from it's clients.
It's very large, I just doubled it to make up for the fact they likely have enough extra facilities since original approval from extensive RP to make up for their station size smushed down into a pancake and chopped up across its client worlds. I can always revert if Wes thinks I'm being too hasty or have the numbers wrong, it's not like it's a statistic that particularly matters, given it has no bearing on buildup even.