Hays Survey Reveals Public Sector Job Cuts Will Damage Frontline Service Delivery

According to new research published by Hays, the leading recruiting expert, the public sector is facing a critical loss of employees, with almost half (45%) of staff in the sector facing redundancy or actively seeking work in the private sector.

Although the public sector is faced with the need to make cuts, pay, career development and job security are all seen to be better in the private sector, resulting in a severe skills loss, which will impact on its ability to deliver frontline services effectively.

The Hays Public Sector Survey 2011 finds that some public sector employers are struggling to recruit staff with the right skills to manage frontline services. Since the Comprehensive Spending Review 18% of employers say it is harder to attract skilled job candidates. Over 80% of employers say uncertainty around job security is the primary factor stopping people looking for work in the sector, followed by changes to benefits (51%) and scrutiny over pay (39%).

Furthermore, headcount reduction schemes and cuts may be draining the public sector of its most vauable employees. 60% of employers and the same level of workers believe voluntary redundancy and early retirement schemes are resulting in the loss of the best talent. Over 60% of staff say they fear the sector will be unable to attract the staff needed to manage the transformation and change ahead.

Andy Robling, public services director of Hays, said: “With such a widespread exodus of staff, it is highly likely that frontline services will be affected. Employers have to make cuts and drive cost savings, but they are also faced with increased demand for many frontline services, such as healthcare and education. The combination of pay scrutiny, fears around job security and critical media headlines means a stigma has started to develop around public sector careers. Many public sector workers are feeling demotivated, devalued and stuck in less challenging careers. The public sector needs to act now to address this before it is too late.”

Asked what areas they would improve to help attract professional staff to the public sector, employers and employees both reported pay and career development as the top two factors. Almost 70% of employers agree they need to review what they have to offer jobseekers so they are perceived more positively, with over a third (38%) saying this is an urgent priority.

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Hays and LCCI Reveal The Private Sector Needs Government Support

Hays, the leading recruiting expert, and The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have partnered to produce a report called “The Challenges of transition: from public to private”.

As the government’s cost cutting measures continue to impact on workers, more needs to be done to support workers through the transition to the private sector, according to the new report.

Around 330,000 people are expected to lose their public sector jobs over the next four years. While both sectors have many similarities, the perceptions the sectors have about each other could limit the ability of ex-public sector employees to quickly return to the labour market thereby risking longer term joblessness.

Through this report, which surveyed the views of public sector employees and private sector employers, the LCCI and Hays have identified six critical steps to ensure the successful transition of the workforce from the public to the private sector: encourage better understanding; incentivise the private sector; identify regional skills gaps; review onboarding procedures; enhance existing support programmes; and promote self-reliance and resourcefulness.

Mark Staniland, director at Hays said: “As the government cuts begin to take effect there is a growing pressure on the private sector to create new jobs. There is no doubt that public sector employees have many skills in need right across the private sector. However, it is unreasonable to believe that transferring a large proportion of the workforce will not need specialist help to progress smoothly. The government must act now and put provisions in place to support the workers and both sectors need to work together to make sure the skills available are used to their full advantage.”

Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of the LCCI added: “We hope this report will make a meaningful contribution to this important debate, which in turn will help get people in to new jobs while giving a shot in the arm to the London and UK economies. In the months to come there will be many talented individuals from the public sector coming on to the job market which is a great opportunity for employers looking to bring in new skills and ideas to their business.”

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Hays Plc Calls For G20 Action On Global Jobs Creation

Hays plc, the global specialist recruiting firm, has called on governments and industries across the world to take joined-up action to tackle the looming threat of increased global unemployment as the world’s working population is set to increase dramatically. With many countries already at record levels of unemployment, co-ordinated action needs to be taken now to avert future labour crises as significantly more people are set to join the global labour force. To this end Hays has developed a Five Point Plan.

Hays, which placed more than 230,000 people in work across 30 countries in 2010, has published a seminal report; Creating Jobs in a Global Economy, compiled in partnership with economic forecaster, Oxford Economics, illustrating the challenges ahead for employers, employees and governments across the world.

The report forecasts the dramatic movements of workforce, power and wealth across the globe over the next 20 years. The world’s working-age population is expected to increase by over a billion people in this timeframe. However, all of this growth will be developing economies. The developed world will see its workforce shrink and age.

Governments and industries must start to plan now how they will deal with this imbalance, both to harness the economic potential that this larger workforce can provide as well as creating the skills that will otherwise become in increasingly short supply in many areas. Developing markets will face a period of rapid industrialisation and infrastructure construction which will require access to skilled and experienced workers currently unavailable in sufficient numbers domestically. Similarly, the developed markets will need to find ways of maintaining their competitive edge in key industries by investing in the future skills required, albeit against a backdrop of a smaller and older pool of workers.

Alistair Cox, CEO, Hays, said: “Our report illustrates the profound and stark challenges our world will face in the future both to create employment opportunities for a billion more people and balance the mismatch we are already seeing between supply and demand of key skills. Only by thinking globally can governments and companies put in place the environment to solve these conflicting challenges and create the basis for full employment and a sound global economy.”

The report demonstrates the need for employment policy to be discussed at the G20 in Mexico and at the WEF next year. Cox added: “Everyone is talking about the growth in the Chinese population. The fact is that China’s working age population is set to plateau and then decline in our generation, just like many countries in the West. No one is yet talking about how industries will employ the extra billion people who will soon be looking for work in India, Africa and South America. That is a huge opportunity if governments and businesses get it right, but a big social problem if we get it wrong.”

‘Creating Jobs in a Global Economy 2011-2030’ follows the publication last year of ‘Action on Skills and Jobs: The Hays Manifesto for Employment’ which outlined the actions needed to create a healthy employment market in the UK.

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Top Language Jobs Set To Smash 300,000th Registered Candidates Within Days

TopLanguageJobs, Europe’s Number 1 Specialist Provider of bilingual jobs and multilingual job vacancies gears up for celebrations for the 300,000 th registered candidate.

Aytac Irfan of TopLanguageJobs commented: “There’s no doubt that TopLanguageJobs has become the forefront for bilingual and multilingual jobs throughout the UK and overseas. We are very excited about reaching our 500,000 th registered candidate and will no doubt be celebrating.”

It’s a fantastic landmark for the company and really cements their position as leading bilingual and multilingual job board. With 16 regional websites and more on the way, TopLanguageJobs is sure to grow from strength to strength over the coming months.

With new specialist hires in marketing, development, sales and more we are likely to see the 300,000 th registered candidate very soon.

Look out for celebrations online from TopLanguageJobs once this target is met.

About TopLanguageJobs
Top Language Jobs, Europe’s No. 1 specialist language recruitment job portal.

We operate the largest European network of bilingual jobsmultilingual jobs websites and have 1000’s of bilingual jobs available online from leading language recruitment agencies & employers in London, UK & Europe.

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Salary Expectations In 2012

TopLanguageJobs, Europe’s Number 1 Specialist Provider of bilingual jobs and multilingual job vacancies makes projections on the UK and Europe salary expectations for 2012.

toplanguagejobs.jpg (180×333)Aytac Irfan of TopLanguageJobs commented: “With average salaries rising for some countries in Europe and others falling, we will probably see an overall dip by a small percentage. But hopefully only for Q1 & Q2. ”

With Greece , Portugal and now Egypt having IMF loans to fill their own budget gaps and to avoid bankruptcy, Europe is bound to see a small drop in employment figures for the end of 2011 & 2012.

With UK banks such as Lloyds still awarding bonuses to top employees of up to 420% their base salary, this is not set to conclude any time soon.

In Germany the Deutsche Bank CEO is touted to head the IMF which will surely bring stability and a more conservative view to proceedings in Europe.

In the UK cuts continue with strikes imminent from the civil service union over issues of pensions, job cuts and pay. Ballots will decide whether they go on strike and hopefully effect decisions made by the government. These decisions will be key to the economic stability in 2012 so we must all monitor the situation closely and hope for a brighter future.

About TopLanguageJobs

Top Language Jobs, Europe ‘s No. 1 specialist language recruitment job portal.

We operate the largest European network of bilingual jobsmultilingual jobs websites and have 1000’s of bilingual jobs available online from leading language recruitment agencies & employers in London, UK & Europe.

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How Salaries In Europe Compare

TopLanguageJobs, Europe’s Number 1 Specialist Provider of bilingual jobs and multilingual job vacancies studies salaries across Europe and is surprised by results.

toplanguagejobs.jpg (180×333)

Aytac Irfan of TopLanguageJobs commented: “Even with the single currency, some countries average is lower than the minimum wage of another.”

Serbians average salary is lower than that of the minimum wage of Croatia . With an average pay of 353 Euros, Serbians earn 32 less than that of the minimum pay of Croatians.

Germans still pay the most social security per employee and company with averages of around 12% of total earnings for both. Slovakia pays the least with totals around 2% of overall earnings.

French employers make the most social security contributions paying out a whopping 17% across the board.

Poor Greece has seen a fall of around 10% in change in earnings since the effects of the last recession and bankruptcy. Portugal on the other hand has seen a rise in change of earnings of 2% even with the bailout of 2011 by the EMU.

Across the globe Soccer stars continue to earn more with an average increase of 12% this year.

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A Strong CV Is Key To Avoiding Graduate Under-Unemployment

Following the news that more than half of all graduates are either out of work or stuck in menial jobs some six months after leaving university, Guardian Jobs are today stressing the importance in preparing a good CV to give you the best chance of success in the jobs market.

A study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that 52% of last year’s university-leavers, that’s 15,655, were unemployed or under-employed six months after graduating.

20%, that’s 59,000 graduates, had no job this year, the highest amount in a decade and double when the recession began in 2008. Worse still, it’s estimated that some 55% of 2011 graduates will be unemployed or under-employed six months after leaving university.

A spokesperson for Guardian Jobs said today “These findings and predictions by the CEBR do make for rather grim reading. It really highlights the importance graduates must make in making themselves appear employable on their CV, which is after all, the first form of contact employers will have.”

To help graduates get the right job, Guardian Jobs have partnered up with The Fuller CV to offer a free CV checking service that promotes the message ‘just say no to bad CV advice’ and highlights the importance of getting your CV checked over by an expert.

To browse Guardian Jobs extensive selection of graduate jobs, and for advice on how to best prepare your CV for the jobs search, visit the Guardian Jobs website.

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