Public sector continues to offer a healthy level of opportunities across a range of professions. We can’t deny that the end of year budget in April didn’t create an above average annual slow down of positions but recruitment activity is starting to pick up now that the annual budgets are in place. We take a look at recruitment trends within the public sector and not-for-profit, from housing to charities, procurement to accounting.
With the continued efficiency drivers across the sector, it’s those who can demonstrate their ability to deliver value for money who are going to be the most in demand, something that’s particularly good news for the procurement profession. Although we have seen the recent boom of interim procurement professionals slow down, as reported in Market Talk’s article Procurement goes under the microscope, there continues to be a number of roles for procurement professionals to play a big part in helping achieve value for money in current and future projects.
those who can demonstrate their ability to deliver value for money are going to be the most in demand”
It’s a similar story for accounting & finance professionals. Those who work closely with the business to better understand the objectives of a project are often in the best position to add value through their expertise, influencing some of the decisions made. Likewise for IT professionals, those niche and highly qualified project staff with experience in cost-saving technologies such as storage and ERP are in demand.
Project experience appears to be key in the NHS as primary care trusts split their strategic and provider arms and form alliances creating a demand for interim strategic and operational project professionals. In other areas of the NHS, as reported in Market Talk’s article Swine flu crisis creates recruitment crisis, emergency planning officers are in demand to implement the strategic plans in response to the potential epidemic.
Recruitment activity within the housing sector is centred mainly on supported housing professionals. Required mainly on a temporary basis, housing providers are hiring resource on a short term basis to manage headcount and have access to a flexible workforce as the future of supported housing funding remains unclear. In addition we continue to see the demand for operational performance managers in the sector to help providers get their house in order or prepare for short notice inspections.
Focusing on the charity sector, we are seeing an increasing demand for major donor and corporate fundraisers. For the most part donations from a major donor come without restrictions on how it is used, providing charities with much needed flexible revenue. And as successful major donor fundraisers provide a healthy return based on their salary, many charities are keen to snap them up. Despite the economic situation employee giving is a key way to enable corporations to continue making charitable donations and makes up a significant part of funding for most charities; creating a demand for corporate fundraisers.
As Public Finance magazine reports that spending growth staying relatively buoyant for public services until 2011 particularly for health and education, we expect to see the level of required skills continue throughout 2009.
Find out Who’s in demand in HR, legal and accounting & finance.
