Despite the hiring freeze imposed on the public service, former Resources Department deputy secretary John Ryan has been hired on a temporary contract to the new Industry the Department on a Senior Executive Service pay band.

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Workers at Industry were told on September 20 - 12 days after their secretary Don Russell was sacked by the Abbott Government on its first day in office - to quit if they didn’t want to implement the new government’s agenda.

Mr Ryan, who is understood to have worked closely with of Industry Minister Ian McFarlane when he was last in Government, will provide “strategic policy advice” across the department, according to Industry spin doctors.

He was a deputy secretary with the old Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism before his retirement in April 2008.

Neither Mr Ryan nor Industry Department boss Glenys Beauchamp agreed to be interviewed about his new job and the Minister’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the appointment.

“Mr Ryan was appointed on 1 October 2013 on a contract on a non-ongoing basis until 31 December 2013,” a departmental spokesman said.

“The contract is at an SES (senior executive service) Band 3 equivalent level and the role is to provide strategic policy advice across the breadth of the portfolio, which is consistent with his knowledge and skills.”

SES band three managers at Industry earn between $300,000 and $320,000 a year.

A public service hiring freeze pledged by the Coalition was due to begin on October 1, the day Mr Ryan started his new job.

A more comprehensive crackdown on recruitment was imposed the following month.

According to public sector unions, more than 3500 public service job cuts were announced in the two months after the election.

Staff at Industry have also been warned to expect redundancies but it is not known how many jobs are to be cut from the department.