Slow council recruitment ‘wasting’ £437m a year claims research

An investigation has revealed that slow recruitment practices of local councils wasted an estimated £437 million last year

Research from an investigation by recruitment firm Omni RMS has revealed that slow recruitment practices of local councils wasted an estimated £437 million last year.

The investigation, after acquiring information through Freedom of Information requests, by Omni RMS found that for key positions  in local councils take nearly twice as long as firms in the private sector to fill.

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One council, East Northamptonshire Council, took an average of five months to hire new staff, with others named in the study included Enfield Council (145 days to hire), Woking Borough Council (133 days), Glasgow City Council (126 days) and East Lothian Council (102 days).

371 out of 435 councils replied to the FOI requests, and revealed that it takes 93 per cent longer for councils to hire compared to the private firms average in the UK.

It takes on average 28.6 days for private firms to hire an employee, according to the findings, which is roughly half the time it takes local councils (55.4 days)

The estimated cost for this delay due to productivity losses and contractors is over £350,000 for every 100 new hires.

124,649 new hires were made in 2014 according to the councils.

Daniel Solomon, of Omni RMS, told the Mirror: “All managers who are responsible for a recruitment budget need to think strategically about the recruitment process.

“Ultimately, a gap in hiring is the most costly part of recruitment.”

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