Navigating the new world of recruitment for Local Government

While the employment market across Australia took a serious blow in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dust is starting to settle now with SEEK reporting recently that job ad volumes are slowly starting to return and ‘industries that were among the hardest hit by the lockdown are showing signs of recovering’.

One sector that avoided much of these woes was in fact, Local Government.

The Local Government sector remains in the unique position in that its employer equity, i.e. the appeal of working in the sector, has not changed. Candidates see local government as having job security and fulfilling roles that support local community.

In fact, Local Government played a key role in creating new job opportunities for those displaced out of work during the height of the restrictions.

Programmed is proud to work with many Local Government bodies across the country and our team of recruitment specialists recently worked with a local council in South Australia to assist them in re-investing $1 million into local employment.

The local council wanted to understand how they could best support local people who had lost their jobs as a result of COVID-19, while also giving back to their community. Our team considered many different approaches that could help them achieve this goal and considered a range of options that would either see them employ more people over a shorter duration or less people over a longer duration.

We’re now supporting this local council to recruit many displaced jobseekers as possible over five months into Parks and Gardens roles to support small improvement and beautification projects.

The challenge that now exists for many businesses, but especially Local Government, is finding the right people for the role within their region and filtering through the huge amount of top talent now available within the talent market.

One of the many benefits of a business of our breadth and scale is that we have been able to support our customers quickly and efficiently as their needs have changed. Given the size of the municipalities that WA Local Government support, we understand it can be difficult to find the right people for roles in regional areas. Our long history of supplying local people into local jobs right across the country has never been more valuable. Recently, we were able to place a great candidate from Kununurra into a senior white-collar role with the northern WA shire.

Today’s candidates are also more risk-adverse; your typical passive jobseeker may need a lot more encouragement to change jobs or take on new opportunities. Rather than take on temporary opportunities more readily, candidates now want to find job security and stability with an employer that aligns with their values.

This is both a plus and a minus for Local Government in that, while it means there won’t be a shortage of applications for roles, there can also be a deluge. Our team of recruitment specialists are experts in both, framing opportunities to the market so that we attract the best candidates for the role, and in shortlisting the talent pool so that our customers only need to consider the top talent.

As one of Australia’s largest and longest serving managed professional workforce and recruitment providers, we specialise in connecting people with the capabilities and cultural fit to the Local Government sector. Our team are experts in their fields, so you can be confident that they can find the right person for your business, now, as we navigate the new business un-usual world, and into the future.

Looking for exceptional professionals, contact us today.