As expected, the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review confirmed that a significant amount of jobs will be lost in the public sector.
The key points of the review included the loss of 490,000 jobs between now and 2014; increased investment in adult apprenticeships and support for creating jobs in the low-carbon economy. George Osborne also said that 178,000 news jobs had been created in the new economy over the last three months and this would be one of the drivers for job creation in the private sector.
Tom Hadley from the REC said that approximately 120,000 temporary assignments had already been ended in the past few months. Ringfencing the education and health budgets will ensure that the flexible workforce will still have a major role to play in the deliverance of front line services in those areas. However, demand for permanent and contractor public sector employees is bound to be hugely impacted.
In the long term, public sector organisations will have to become leaner and undergo a fundamental reform in the way they deliver services. Flexible staffing will become a vital element in providing cost-effectiveness and the REC will continue with their campaign to argue that the flexible workforce provides valuable solutions not problems.
Members of the REC Sector Groups have also commented on the Review. The chair of the accounting and financial services group said the REC welcomed the commitment to apprenticeships and confirmed that they were working with industry bodies to lay down a proposition for specific financial services apprenticeships which they hope to launch shortly.
Jo Edwards, the chair of the Confederation’s office professionals pointed out that admin support teams are vital if the sector is to provide pubic services effectively and that, although the government sees the cost of agency staff as a somewhat unnecessary cost, they should take the view that flexible staff are intrinsic to cost effectiveness.
The FSB, in response to Osborne’s statement, said the coalition should now set up a Small Business Programme for Growth. This becomes more important as slightly over 10% of businesses plan to decrease their workforce in the next three months. On the plus side, the Federation was pleased that both the number of adult apprenticeships will rise, and measures will be taken to move towards a lower carbon economy.
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