NZ local government employees not seeking a ’job for life’

A survey carried out by New Zealand Local Government Online (LGOL) has revealed that while an encouraging 83 percent of local government employees enjoy their jobs and 75 percent would ideally like to stay in local government, they no longer desire the stereotypical ëjob for lifeí commonly associated with their sector.

The notion of a ëjob for lifeí has long been in semi-retirement, but research as recent as 2004 still indicated that almost half of our local government employees expected to stay in their careers for life. This is in some contrast to the low 15 percent of LGOL respondents who indicated they expected a ëjob for lifeí commitment from their current employer.

The survey revealed that attitudes to careers within local government may be changing. Employees are positive about their pay, benefits and job variety, and are less concerned about their job security. This makes for a confident workforce in comparison to the 35 percent of all New Zealanders who, according to an ACNielsen study in June 2005, rated job security as a major concern. A staggering 94 percent of LGOL respondents said they felt secure or very secure in their jobs.

Respondents did indeed consider a local government career to offer job security and stability, and for these reasons, as well as a belief that councils offered job satisfaction and advancement, an overwhelming 89 percent of respondents would recommend a local government career to their friends and family.

This is excellent news for LGOL, as it develops ways to encourage word-of-mouth referrals by 30,000 local government employees to its online jobs portal, LGOL Careers (www.quietagent.com/lgol).

The portal, launched in August 2005, offers any job seeker globally a way to anonymously and privately register their interest for future positions across all of our 85 councils from one place. Local government employers have recently begun to search the LGOL Careers database, and report that the quality of talent already registered is of a high standard.

Jim Higgins, CEO of LGOL believes that this is because those who sign up are serious about working within the sector. ìLGOL Careers is not a job board, and candidates donít fire-hose their CV across many employers. They fill out meaningful, searchable information relating to the areas of local government they would like to work in. For instance, if I were registering interest in future jobs in Environmental Management then I would answer a set of key questions about my experience in this very specialised areaî.

What will be very encouraging for local government employers is the clear indication that respondents believe their careers to be varied and interesting, and have a preference to either stay with their current employer when they are ready to switch jobs, or move to another similar local government agency.

Of the 635 surveyed, half had already worked in five different job roles over the span of their career, and most expected to switch job roles at least within the next five year period. Significant themes to emerge from respondent comments were that a job for life simply doesnít work anymore in a changing market, and that switching jobs can help you to learn from others and advance your career, and avoid a situation of becoming stale and bored.

Active job seekers as well as people who are happily in employment are encouraged to join the LGOL Careers community to gain a lifetime career partner that is always on the lookout for their next job. For local government employers, this provides a new generation of savvy, ësecret identityí career seekers that may just be motivated to consider a fresh opportunity within the sector.