Skill-shortage vacancies fall, survey shows
A survey has revealed that the number of skill-shortage vacancies have fallen from 2007 to 2009, which could be apparent in the public sector.
The study of nearly 80,000 businesses, which was commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, noted that the majority of employers were happy with the number of young recruits.
Chris Humphries, chief executive of the organisation, said it is up to bosses to leave any prejudices behind and work with the talent that is available.
He added: “Employers who actually have experience of working with young people seem to be much more positive about them than employers more generally.”
Moreover, he stated that it is important to ensure university, school and college leavers are all work-ready.
But earlier this month, Mike Emmott, public policy advisor at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, noted that the amount of older people choosing to stay in employment is increasing.
Women overlooked for “masculine” jobs
Some females are become are being disregarded for jobs on the basis of their appearance.
This is according to results from a recent survey, of which the findings could be apparent in the public sector.
The University of Colorado Denver Business School has noted that a female’’s chances of getting a more “masculine” job, such as a manager of research and development, can be diminished depending on what they look like.
Professor Stefanie Johnson, assistant professor of management at the educational institution, said it was revealed that being attractive was detrimental to women.
She added: “In every other kind of job, attractive women were preferred. This wasn”t the case with men which shows that there is still a double standard when it comes to gender.”
The results were based on participants choosing which job a person would be best suited to based on 55 male and 55 female photos.
In addition, Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age, observed last month that unspoken age discrimination still occurs in the workplace.
Promoted individuals need skills for the people side of things
Company bosses who promote individuals despite their lack of the level of skill required to be a manager need to remember that these members of staff should have people management abilities.
This is according to Tina Lamb, senior partner at the Impact Factory - a training, leadership and development company - who said that just because someone can do their work well does not mean they will be a great leader.
She added: “Often what happens is people show great capabilities with certain aspects of their work and off the back of this they get promoted.”
This could apply to people with public sector jobs, but it might be worthwhile for those looking to obtain a employment in the industry to try to gain some management skills.
Moreover, a recent employee outlook survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development noted that staff are generally positive in their attitudes to line managers.
Public sector gender equality to be looked into
A man has been set the task of looking into why women are not always getting the top jobs.
Lord Davies of Abersoch has been asked by the government to a compile a report to find out why females only made up 12.2 per cent of the FTSE 100 company director roles in 2009, according to research from Cranfield University.
The main aim is to make sure that at least half of the new appointees to boards of public sector organisations are women by the end of this parliament.
Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said that having a diverse company means that better services and products can be offered.
She added: “It is essential that we don”t miss out on the talent and skills of half our population if Britain is going to compete in a fast-moving global economy.”
This news comes after Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age, noted that there is still unspoken age discrimination occurring within the workplace.
Flexible working is mostly seen a good thing, expert says
Flexible working is seen as a positive thing by the majority of businesses, according to one industry expert.
Andrew Cave, head of policy at the Federation of Small Businesses, said one of the reasons is because it is so obvious to a large amount of companies, which could also apply to the public sector.
But he added that introducing legislation about this type of working practice could be disruptive within an organisation.
“What that is actually doing is having the state coming in and interfering by coming in between the employee and employer and formalising that relationship,” Mr Cave observed.
And he declared that it can be tough to get across to ministers that this ruling could endanger a dynamic that was previously successful.
In addition, Stephen Overell, associate director for The Work Foundation, noted that there will be a greater demand for flexible working in the future.
