Headlines: May 26th, 2010

With cuts likely to lead to widespread job losses both employers and employees in the public sector are calling for steps to help staff to find new jobs to be a compulsory part of all redundancies. New research from recruiting experts, Hays, found both sides wanted the introduction of outplacement and career transition services, such as career guidance and CV or interview advice.

The company found 85 per cent of public sector workers believed that this kind of support should be compulsory and over half of their employers agreed. More than 70 per cent of public sector employers went as far as saying the government should offer funding to help them provide such services. That compares with 60 per cent of private sector bosses.

Almost 300 HR professionals and line managers and more than 750 employees across the public, private and voluntary sectors took part in the survey. It found that in spite of signs of recovery just over 40 per cent of private sector employees and half of those in the public sector were expecting further redundancies in the next twelve months. The majority of staff who had been made redundant said they had used support when it was offered by their employer.

Mark Staniland, the Managing Director of Hays Career Transition Services, said: “With a difficult year and the prospects of job cuts in the public sector ahead, it’s critical that HR teams in the public sector take the opportunity to ensure redundancies are handled properly. A better use of available funds may be to focus on those employees experiencing redundancy and offering them practical help to find another job quickly, as ultimately this will save the government purse.”