Women ‘disproportionately affected by drop in use of temps’

A fall in the use of temporary workers in the public sector at the end of last year disproportionately affected women and younger workers, according to the first Comensura Government Index.

A fall in the use of temporary workers in the public sector at the end of last year disproportionately affected women and younger workers, according to the first Comensura Government Index.
 
It shows there was an 11.8% decrease in the use of temporary labour by public bodies in the last quarter of 2011, when compared to the same time in 2010 and this has had a disproportionate effect on female workers and those under 34. Over the past two years, there has been a 20% decrease in temporary labour, it says.

The new quarterly index reflects temporary labour usage across 74 local authorities and other public bodies. The index is compiled by Comensura, who specialise in organisational efficiency through the managed supply of people in large organisations across the public, private and not for profit sectors.

The proportion of male and female workers has also changed over the past two years, from almost an even distribution at the beginning of 2010 to 55.5% male and 44.5% female at the end of 2011, says Comensura. The number of women employed in temporary positions in the public sector has decreased by a dramatic 28.3% largely due to reductions in the number of social care, catering and hospitality, administrative and customer service roles, it stated.

Young people also suffered the effects of reduced spending by local authorities. In the final quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, the number of 16-24 year-olds employed on a temporary basis decreased by 13.8% and the 25-34 age range decreased by 19.8%. This result is primarily due to extensive decreases in temporary labour in office/administrative roles and social care roles, which declined by 17.8% and 17.5% respectively, says Comensura.

Jamie Horton, Managing Director, Comensura, said: “The decrease in temporary employment for women and young people is reflected across the UK workforce currently. While this is concerning for women and young people, the overall results show that the public sector has made a real and concerted effort to reduce the amount spent on temporary labour.”

The Comensura GI shows a 19.2% decrease in temporary resource hires to cover vacant posts, a 7.1% drop in hires to cover short-term demand and a decrease of 9.0% to cover leave (mostly relating to sickness). This decrease may be attributable to widespread recruitment freezes and budget cuts across local authorities and other public bodies.

“Looking forward, the decrease in usage of temporary labour is expected to continue as forecast labour demand in the public sector remains weak due to ongoing economic uncertainty,” said Horton. “Local authorities and other public bodies are increasingly gaining greater control of expenditure on temporary labour by implementing control methods to manage their demand for temporary labour. There is also better planning of workforce needs to ensure resources are spent in the right areas.”





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