Do you engage in public sector recruiting?  If not you may be missing a very important and sizable opportunity.  Let’s start with the size of the pie – 24% is the average percentage of employees in the public sector in Canada (March 2012).  The USA tends to be in the high teens with developing country average around 23% (Bureau of Statistics).  This means that one in four or five positions in Canada/USA are a public job:  government, Crown Corporation, university, hospital and so forth. 

As in any business, even public sector jobs, if you are employee heavy the cost of the services increases. In Canada PEI has the highest percentage of public sector workers at 34%.  Alberta is the lowest at 19%, and the only region to fall below the 20% range.  Alberta consequently is the most over developed when it comes to the staffing industry.  There are many different assumptions and parallels that can be drawn from this; however the message is clear…there is considerable opportunity in staffing and the public sector. 

 Not only is there opportunity there is growing opportunity.  Since March 2011 Canada has seen increases in public sector jobs of 1% (private sector jobs increased 2%).  In provinces like British Columbia and Quebec the public sector employee growth over the last year is greater than that of the private sector by double.  What this may signal about the market is very different from what it signals to the staffing industry – the signal for staffing is that the public sector is an opportunity for both permanent and temporary staffing opportunities. 

Considerations for public sector work do require a different approach because cultures, goals, visions and assumptions may be very different from those in the private industry.  In fact suggesting you work for the government may illicit some generalizations about who person is by way of character and passion.  This may impact how to sell a client and how to recruit a candidate, however, overcoming these may prove valuable when the public sector continues to show growth and makes up a significant portion of the workforce.

Darryl

Executrade – Your Recruitment Specialists

www.executrade.com

References:

StatsCan: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr66c-...

Bureau of Statistics: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/download/wp_pse_e.pdf