A one year public sector hiring freeze would axe 480,000 job posts

March 29, 2010 4:36 pm by Alex Barker

Part of the £12bn Tory efficiency savings will come from “tighter control of public sector recruitment”.

George Osborne’s aides are making clear that it is not a full hiring freeze. But it will come close to it in parts of the public sector. In crude terms, they’re arguing that frontline jobs should be refilled while backoffice jobs are sacrificed to “natural wastage”.

This could make a big difference. Martin Read, the former chief executive of Logica turned patron saint of government efficiency, argues in his statement of support for the Tories that the turnover of staff in the public sector runs at 8 per cent a year.

Now, there are around 6m public sector workers. So a full hiring freeze would cut 480,000 job posts. Even if the Tories were half serious about the hiring freeze, that would cut the public sector payroll by 240,000. Big savings, sure. But it is quite a promise to make with less than 40 days to an election.

Posted in UK politics |
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