Public spending on recruitment will remain strong during 2010 - despite warnings of widespread cuts, experts claim.
While much of the public sector will undoubtedly come under severe financial pressure, areas such as revenue and benefits are experiencing increased workloads brought on by the economic downturn – creating new vacancies to be filled.
Meanwhile, some local authorities are also investing in proven revenue sources such as parking enforcement, traffic management and the monitoring of fraudulent benefit claims.
Kieran Ryan, Managing Director at Synergy comments: “Although the public sector as a whole will undoubtedly experience budget cuts this year, that is not to say there will be no demand for recruitment – far from it.
“Clearly there are some departments where demand rises in a recession, for example those departments dealing with the increased number of benefits claimants and some health issues caused by rising unemployment.
“Not only will they need more people, but we believe that many departments which raise revenue are also set grow this year.
“This will hopefully allow those private sector workers who have been hit by the recession to gain employment in the public sector and reduce the current estimated unemployment figure of three million.”
“Many of those who have lost jobs during the recession will inevitably find it increasingly difficult to gain employment in the sector they have traditionally trained in”, Ryan adds.
“But those willing to retrain will find that many local authorities will recruit at entry level and offer candidates on-the-job experience and training before they even start work in some cases.”
To help those authorities, Synergy has developed a new programme that will allow individuals to retrain into a chosen sector with a view to gaining a specific role - regardless of whether they are ultimately successful or not.
The Kickstart programme, the first of its kind, gives shortlisted candidates extra training towards their chosen career path during the interview process.
The aim is to giving prospective employees an honest and accurate understanding of the role they are applying for, while also improving the quality of the candidates available to clients.
Ryan at Synergy concludes: “This year is undoubtedly going to be a tough year both for recruiters and for those looking for work, especially if they are looking for a career change.
“Thankfully many of the available public sector roles will be looking for entry-level staff, which is where Kickstart will help by allowing candidates to get their foot in the door.”