Workplace worries spoil public sectors appeal

Jobseekers’ willingness to work for public sector employers may be wrecked by long-standing image problems, new research warns.

Ninety per cent of jobseekers surveyed by totaljobs.com, one of the UK’s leading jobs boards, would consider applying for a public sector post. However, the research identified a number of factors that might cause them to go elsewhere.

Eighty-two per cent of respondents perceived the public sector as bureaucratic, 66 per cent believed it is an ungenerous employer and 50 per cent were concerned about limited job prospects. A further 65 per cent stated that public sector employers did not have a modern outlook.

Comparisons with private businesses also proved worrying. Only 15 per cent of those surveyed thought public bodies paid high salaries, compared with 69 per cent who believed the private sector had deeper pockets. Forty-four per cent of jobseekers also felt that private sector employers were more effective at promoting the benefits of working for them, while 22 per cent favoured the public sector.

Examples of jobseekers’ grumbles regarding public sector employment included:

Boring, bureaucratic and attracts the cardigan brigade with no ambitions. A job for life, but you may as well have died early anyway for all the excitement it entails.

Too process-driven. Does not encourage an entrepreneurial spirit.

I worked there before. There are very limited career options as so many people are waiting for their pensions in ten years’ time.

In addition, despite the fact that 43 per cent of the UK’s workforce now use the internet to look for job opportunities (source: WRES 2003), only 10 per cent of respondents thought that public sector organisations were good at promoting their vacancies online.

Although the prospect of working for public sector organisations appeals to most jobseekers, they can be easily persuaded to look elsewhere, commented Keith Robinson, commercial director at totaljobs.com. The public sector needs to address its long-standing image problems if it wants to attract talented and ambitious employees.

The survey contained some good news for the public sector. Seventy per cent of respondents believed its employers looked after their staff, while 48 per cent favoured its flexible working hours, compared to 31 per cent who preferred the private sector’s nine to five routine.

The perception that public bodies provide employees with a better work-life balance could help them make up lost ground, but much more needs to be done, concluded Keith Robinson.