Government tells Local Authorities to embrace e-recruitment

Local authorities need to embrace e-recruitment and forge national partnerships with organisations like Jobsgopublic, according to the Governmentís ìThe Local Government Pay and Workforce Strategy 2005î.



The strategy, launched at last weekís Local Government Associationís annual conference, urges local councils to prioritise succession planning and to open their doors to new and diverse talent by embracing e-recruitment.

Jobsgopublic Co-Founder, Richard Tyrie said: ìWith one third of all local government workers due to retire in the next ten years and two thirds in the next 20; local authorities must act now to address the issue of succession planning.

ìWith this is mind, it is vital that employers look at how they can attract a more diverse and younger workforce, and one of the most effective ways of doing this, as recognised in this strategy, is e-recruitmentî.

A recent survey by Jobsgopublic and the Association of London Government found that 98% of young people use the internet as their primary source for job hunting and that internet access is virtually 100% for the 5 ñ 18 year old age group.

Richard said: ìIf local authorities do not start to fully embrace the opportunities that e-recruitment offers, not only will they fail to achieve the significant cost savings, but they will continue to be perceived as old fashioned, overly bureaucratic and behind the game, at a time where the future of local government service provision is reliant on attracting younger, more web-literate talent.

ìWhatís more, in an increasingly competitive employment market, local authorities will continue to lose talent to other sectors who are better able to position themselves as an employer of choice by offering a stronger employer brand proposition and a simpler more accessible means of applying for jobsî.