Since I began my role as Director of Central Government Recruitment the sector has been very eventful. In the space of one week, we have welcomed 2 new Prime Ministers and a new Head of State. There has been ground breaking news for the public sector and economic turmoil.
Elsewhere digital transformation efforts continue at pace as public sector services increasingly move online. However, this shift has left government departments and public sector organisations vulnerable to security risks. Several high-profile attacks have meant greater investment in cybersecurity and trials of new cybersecurity frameworks and an increase in hiring for digital and cyber security roles in the public sector.
More generally, Public Sector and Central Government employment has increased overall in the second quarter of 2022 despite calls for extensive civil service job cuts which Jacob Rees-Mogg claims will allow the government to sell nearly £1.5billion worth of civil service office and to transfer 22,000 central government roles out of London. Critics argue the plans fail to account for hybrid working preferences amongst civil servants and the difficulties involved in making large cuts to central government roles. If Rees-Mogg is successful, the effect on long term civil service hiring trends is likely to be extensive.
Current Hiring Challenges for the Public Sector
In my opinion the biggest difficulties facing hiring managers and recruiters in the sector throughout the remainder of this year will be:
- The Civil Servant Perm Recruitment Freeze
With government departments being asked to model headcount reductions of up to 40%, we can expect to see, substantial reductions in permanent recruitment. New roles will be limited to those filling crucial skills gaps and Interim roles. - A candidate-short market and widening skills gaps
The candidate-short market has continued to bite, particularly in the Public Sector. Competition with the Private Sector for critical talent has led to increasing costs, with UK Public Sector spend on consultants more than doubling last year. This looks set to continue with day rates continuing to increase.
In-demand roles in the Public Sector for Q4 2022
Over the last few months, I have seen an increase in roles related to change programmes and new operational strategies. A lot of the roles I have worked on have been Programme Leads, Programme Managers and Operational Strategy roles focused on helping government departments establish and implement new ways of working. It’s my belief that we’ll continue to see these types of roles advertised for the next 6 months taking us well into 2023.
We’ve also seen an increase in public sector hiring for finance related roles, particularly around financial planning for the coming year. Senior level finance professionals with experience in financial planning as well as workforce planning are likely to be highly sought after.
During my first months with Morgan Law, I have been working with several Regulators and Central Government departments to hire for key financial, digital, and operational roles including:
- Programme Manager- People and Culture
- Transformation Director
- Operations Strategy Lead
- Management Accountant
- Senior Project Manager’s
- Financial Controller
- IT Project Manager
- IT Delivery Lead
- Head of Finance
- Microsoft Dynamics Lead
Learn more about how Oliva and Morgan Law can assist you with Public Sector and Central Government hiring.
At Morgan Law we take the time to develop a full understanding of your requirements, meeting with you to discuss challenges and offer advice on the availability of talent in the market and how to improve your existing practices. Our established database of over 30,000 senior-level, highly skilled professionals with significant experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors available on a permanent and contract basis enable us to deliver the highest quality recruitment solutions.
Olivia joined Morgan Law in 2022 as the Director for Central Government specialising in IT, Project Management & Change, and Finance appointments. With extensive experience recruiting senior professionals across the public sector on both an interim and permanent basis, she takes a collaborative approach allowing her to provide the best market knowledge and insights while attracting the best talent for organisations.