Public service employers are offering job candidates more days working from home and letting staff perform roles outside Canberra as skills shortages grip agencies trying to fill positions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
High labour demand has made recruitment harder for the Australian Public Service, which faces shortages for workers as national unemployment reaches record lows.
Recruitment firms are reporting many APS employers are responding to the competitive market by offering more remote working, including allowing new hires to do previously Canberra-based jobs in their home cities.
HorizonOne general manager of recruitment operations Andy Batstone said there were shortages across most job types in the public service.
"You can paint a broad brushstroke across nearly any professional job type, from executive assistant through to policy officer though to marketing and comms, financial, every sector we work in has got a shortage. It could be a chief financial officer, it could be a highly technical business analyst," Mr Batstone said.
APS agencies were responding to the competitive market by offering job candidates more days working from home, and allowing them to perform work in offices outside the ACT.
"That's allowing those agencies and departments to attract more people, because they've got a wider pool to go from. But we're still seeing also that more traditional approach to recruitment where that flexibility isn't offered, or there isn't much flexibility in terms of the profile of person that they're willing to take on," Mr Batstone said.
face2face recruitment ICT division leader Mitch Porteous said the largest critical skill shortages in the APS were across the data, digital and information and communications technology fields. There was a surplus of entry level workers but not specialists, he said.
Mr Porteous said the high demand for labour could also affect the Labor government's planned shift from contractors to internally-employed public servants.
"Increases in labour demand have made it a candidate's market. Many are choosing to be contractors rather than permanent APS staff because it's more lucrative, which is a challenge for the federal government as it's trying to reduce contractors. So there needs to be more workers who want familiarity or workplace stability over higher hourly rates.
"There has been a lot of talk by Labor saying they are reducing contractor numbers but due to the increased labour demand for highly specialised roles, their hands for now are tied."
READ MORE:
Mr Porteous said agencies and departments were having to move more quickly through hiring processes, including interviews and on-boarding, while also more closely scrutinising which skills and experiences were truly necessary or just desirable.
"Like the private sector, the public sector is having to accommodate flexible working arrangements and higher pay. Because there's such a shortage of workers the APS is having to better communicate the benefits of joining their team, including working with the latest technology and having an appealing culture," he said.
"Workers are not just upskilling to get better at what they already do, but are reskilling to get into a new area by adapting to new technology. The APS are aware of this and are now more accommodating of candidates who might not fit the strict job role criteria perfectly but have transferable skills."
The public service commission said federal agencies were reporting cyber security, data analyst and business intelligence developer roles were the hardest to fill.
"Similar to other employers across the Australian economy, the APS is feeling the effects of widespread skill and labour shortages, in particular in highly specialised roles," a commission spokesperson said.
"For every one of these roles that we list on our APS Jobs website, there are many other employers looking for the same skill set," the spokesperson said.
Figures from January 2020 to September 2021 showed for every data analyst vacancy listed on APS Jobs, about 40 other employers posted the exact same vacancy on a major non-APS jobs board.
For each cyber security vacancy listed on APS Jobs, 250 other employers were posting the same vacancy, while for business intelligence developers, the ratio was one to 45.
The public service commission said access to flexible working arrangements would be a mainstay for the APS to be seen as an employer of choice.
"Strong competition for specialist talent and expertise will demand flexible and innovative ways to attract and retain staff," the commission's spokesperson said.
A recent annual report on the state of the public service found many agencies were experiencing digital, data and ICT shortages and continued to recruit for these roles in Canberra while strong talent pools may be located outside the ACT, the spokesperson said.
"Decisions about flexibility and where we work can remove the geographic boundaries of recruitment and allow the APS to tap into national labour markets," they said.
New jobs figures this week confirmed labour shortages for employers, showing the official unemployment rate had dropped to 3.5 per cent, the lowest since since August 1974.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram