Despite the traditionally quiet summer period, there are still a number of opportunities across the public sector; a trend we expect to see increase in the next couple of months.
‘Value for Money’ and ‘Operational Efficiency’ continue to be the watchwords of the public sector as outlined in the recent reports from HM Treasury. If you can prove that you have succeeded in bringing either of these to the table, then you are in a strong position to secure the role you want. Hence the ongoing need for commercially-minded professionals across strategy, finance, procurement and IT.
We’ve certainly seen an increase in demand for professional staff in the NHS as primary care trusts split their commissioning and provider arms and form alliances. However there is growing debate around the costs of the ‘split’ and with demands from a union to halt government plans to force PCTs to off load their community services, some PCTs are unclear about what the future holds.
As we discuss in the Labour shift in the social housing sector article, there are still a wealth of front line skills in demand, many of them as a result of the impact of the recession as pressure mounts for support in drugs and alcohol mis-use, domestic violence, homelessness and unemployment cases. Strategic roles for interim specialists are in demand as providers focus on performance management and improving customer satisfaction levels.
Employers looking to get the most from their recruitment practices will want to download our free guide, Recruitment in challenging times. Public sector professionals keen to be strong contenders for new vacancies will be interested in Your personal brand: making yourself attractive to employers.
