Recruitment in the government sector and other useful things to know and do for all the employers, contractors and job seekers in the Spinifex community
A big week for governments. Supporting more businesses to reopen their doors. Expanding public transport services for workers going back to the office. Making the National Cabinet a permanent process for moving ahead. A priority at every turn for our public servants. So, what does this mean for public sector recruitment?
This is one of the topics we’ve been hearing about over the last week, along with:
Where the jobs are
Good news for councils
Where the jobs are
Over the past week, we’ve listed a number of job opportunities in the following sectors and locations across NSW. Around 21% of those jobs are in the Construction sector.
Victoria Bila, our group operations manager and government specialist, shares some insights on the ebb and flow of public sector recruitment at this time.
“It’s never easy for public sector employers to recruit staff,” says Victoria.
“There are strict policies, standards and guidelines to ensure transparent decision making and, ultimately, accountability back to taxpayers who fund the budget.
“Take NSW for example. Imagine having to justify a hiring decision to over 3.9 million people. Then imagine that around 400,000 of them are also your employees.
“It’s a constant balancing act between public need, community expectations, keeping costs sustainable and getting the work done.
“It’s even more challenging during these extraordinary times.
“We’re seeing a lot of volatility in public sector recruitment at the moment. Driven by the need to redeploy staff to meet critical service demands, put some projects on hold whilst accelerating others, and generally work and pivot in high gear.
“This is coming off the back of drought, bushfires and machinery of government changes at both federal and state levels.
“So, it’s no surprise public sector employers are looking for people with previous government experience, so they can hit the deck running, and high-level ‘c’ skills.
Employers want examples of these ‘C’ skills in action on your CV
Cognitive flexibility
Collaboration
Communication
Complex problem solving
Creativity
Critical thinking
Customer service orientation
“What I’m really happy to see is that the innovation and transformation efforts, made by governments over the past five years, are not stopping. There might be less money to go around for a while, but the big ideas are still wanted and, let’s face it, more needed than ever.
“It’s also been great to see the response to initiatives such the NSW government’s feefree TAFE courses which have now passed 100,000 enrolments since April.
“To deliver innovations and initiatives, government draws heavily on external, or contingent, workforces such as contractors and temps. They offer an efficient way to meet changing market needs, particularly during a crisis.
“At a recent SAP webinar, NSW TAFE’s general manager of procurement, Giles Curtin, spoke about managing an external workforce during a crisis.
“TAFE uses around 600 contingent staff in student service and corporate areas and the COVID-19 environment highlighted the benefits of viewing them more inclusively.
“A gamechanger for them was a ‘virtual desktop’ system developed by TAFE’s IT team which enabled them to onboard contingent staff into the organisation to a higher degree and extend greater trust to work in isolation.
“The relationship between an employer and their contingent staff has been thrown into the spotlight over the last few months, particularly in the context of workplace reform.
“It will be interesting to see what develops going forward.”
Credentials
Spinifex recruiters have been serving the public sector for over 30 years at local, state and federal levels. They have placed over 100,000 people in jobs, around 60,000 of those for the NSW Government for which they are approved suppliers on the Pre- Qualification Scheme: Contingent Workforce 0007 and Talent Acquisition Pre- Qualification Scheme 012 panels.
Here’s something that will make it easier for people to get where they need to go… both literally and figuratively.
A new $500 million Local Roads and Community Infrastructure (LRCI) program will support councils to deliver road and infrastructure projects, supporting local jobs and economic recovery.
LRCI is part of the Australian Government’s $1.8 billion boost for road and community projects through local governments. This includes $1.3 billion of the 2020-21 Financial Assistance Grant payment, which will also help communities battling the effects of COVID-19.
NSW takes home the lion’s share of funding with $139.3 million, including allocations to councils such as:
Ballina Shire Council $880,244
Bathurst Regional Council $1,248,559
Byron Shire Council $730,070
Clarence Valley Council $2,051,366
Dubbo Regional Council $2,146,498
Gunnedah Shire Council $1,007,220
Kyogle Council $1,024,156
Lismore City Council $1,228,170
Mid-Western Regional Council (incl. Mudgee) $1,525,932
Orange City Council $720,809
Parkes Shire Council $1,337,613
Parramatta City Council $1,282,352
Sydney City Council $865,560
Tweed Shire Council $1,814,531
Wagga Wagga City Council $2,050,700
In the ACT, the Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate, was allocated $7,968,750.
Councils and agencies will need to submit applications for their allocated funding, which will be available from July 1.
