UK Edition
An exodus of teachers is driving public sector pay rise plans to a record high, new data shows.
Public sector employers plan to increase pay by a record 3.3pc as they struggle to find new staff, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s quarterly Labour Market Outlook.
More than half of public sector employers report having vacancies that are difficult to fill, with the strike-hit education and health-care sectors facing the biggest challenges in recruitment.
Nearly two-thirds (60pc) of education employers said that they were struggling to fill roles. Amongst healthcare employers the share was 55pc.
Jon Boys, senior labour market economist at CPID, said: “There are a lot of teacher vacancies at the moment, which suggests that there are a lot of people leaving teaching. It is a retention problem.”
There is also a recruitment problem attracting new teaching staff, he said.
Nearly half (45pc) of all public sector employers anticipate major difficulties in finding staff over the next six months.
Mr Boys said: “Recruitment and retention is difficult in these sectors. People are striking because the terms and conditions aren’t good enough, the workload is too high, and the pay is not good enough compared to the other occupations that they could go into.”
In response to the staff shortages, expected pay awards in the public sector have jumped by 3.3pc. This was the highest level on record since CIPD began tracking the data in 2012.
But there was still a major lag compared to the private sector, where the expected pay rise was 5pc.
Less than a quarter (23pc) of private sector employers said they expected difficulties in recruitment over the next six months.
Public sector employers are scrambling to fill the gaps in their workforce in ways beyond just offering more cash.
Nearly half (48pc) are increasing the burden of duties on other existing staff members, a tactic used by only 34pc of employers in the private sector.
The public sector is also putting more efforts into retraining their current employees, with 55pc of employers upskilling their staff compared to 49pc amongst the private sector.
The private sector, by contrast, is putting more effort into wooing workers by boosting job quality, with perks such as flexible working.
Mr Boys said: “Pay will be key for many people in the cost-of-living crisis but employers should look beyond this to the full range of measures they can take to boost how they recruit and retain their employees. These include more inclusive approaches to recruitment, creating more flexible jobs, as well as investing in training and developing line managers’ people management skills."
He also called for the Government to help employers fill skills gap by reforming the Apprenticeship Levy to make it more flexible.