Partner Article

Public sector turns to contractors as service levels suffer, UK-wide report shows

The Venn Index – the UK’s largest quarterly survey of contractor hiring trends – reveals:

Public sector contractor hiring well ahead of private hiring, up 10% quarter-on-quarter and 20% year-on-year Contractor vacancies in the private sector down 31% quarter-on-quarter and 28% year-on-year, but hiring hotspots still bucking trend

The Government’s ‘slash and burn’ approach to public sector jobs has given rise to a boom in contractor hiring, according to the latest quarterly employment index from Venn Group, a nationwide recruiter of contract staff. Figures from the report show that in quarter two 2014, public sector contractor hiring increased 10% compared to quarter one. The annual rise was more marked, with public sector vacancies up 20% on 2013 levels. According to Venn Group’s report, the trend is the direct result of public sector institutions fighting to maintain service levels in the face of continuing Government clamp downs on permanent hiring.

Jodie Finn, associate director at Venn Group, comments, “We’re hearing constant reports of doom and gloom for public sector professionals, with an estimated 40% reduction in permanent head counts over the next few years. However, in terms of contract and interim professionals, our data certainly counters this. Conversations with our public sector clients across the UK indicate that there is still an acute need for professionals in the key functions of finance, HR, procurement and IM&T across both the NHS and local government to maintain performance, continuity and service levels. With permanent hiring budgets frozen and public sector bodies facing increased scrutiny over the services they provide, recruitment managers are turning to contractors.”

The report indicates that within the NHS, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are faced with the on-going challenge of integrating health services into the local community which has boosted demand for finance, IT and HR professionals working on a contract basis. Meanwhile, the continued scrutiny of the relationship between CCGs and private sector suppliers has led to a boom in hiring of specialist procurement professionals to oversee tenders. Elsewhere, the focus on how CCGs handle reporting and complaints from patients and their families means contractors are increasingly being recruited from the private sector to deal with cases effectively.

The Venn Index reveals that within the private sector, contractor hiring during quarter two did not keep up to speed with the general positive economic outlook. After a frenzy of hiring during quarter one, contractor vacancies fell in quarter two by 31%. Year-on-year, private sector recruitment registered a 28% drop, as demand for contractors stabilised following the brisk trade of 2013, when the economy finally turned a corner.

However, despite the overall drop in private sector hiring, the Index figures indicate quarter two was characterised by several private sector ‘pockets’ which experienced major surges in contractor hiring, including legal, in particular conveyancing, and digital, as well as within the HR function, as companies plan for growth and look to strengthen their employment strategies.

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Note to editors:

Venn Group - the UK’s only company dedicated to the provision of professional contract staff to organisations in both the private and public sectors – compared hiring levels between quarter one 2014 and quarter two 2014 across all of its core regions:

• London

• The North West

• The South West

• The North East

• Thames Valley

• The Midlands

For further information, or to request a full copy of the report, please contact Bruce Callander on 01582 790090 / bruce@bluesky-pr.com or Steph King on 01582 790700 / stephanie@bluesky-pr.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Venn Group .