Britain’s workforce is “woefully ill-prepared” to compete for jobs in the public sector – one of the few anticipating vacancies in 2009, according to Hays UK.

Hays believes that people looking for more job security by moving from the private sector are failing to recognise that they need to retrain or prepare for the different work ethos and pressures that they will face.

 “It is clear to us that people underestimate how tough it  can be to get into the public sector, how fierce the competition will be, and how many will be seeking work for which they are under trained,” says Mark Staniland, a specialist in public sector recruitment and managing director of Hays Public Services. “The truth is that jobseekers are going to have to fight and tooth and nail for limited vacancies.”

Staniland blames a perception that working in the public sector is less demanding for lulling people into a false sense of security.

 “The message we have to get across is that people simply must retrain in order to get ahead, not just wait and hope their private sector skills will magically transfer. Often they won’t,” he adds.  

Hays is campaigning to raise awareness of the need to retrain and be aware that public sector jobs make particular demands, from technical language to  knowledge of different processes. “Moving from one sector to another is extremely difficult in this climate and people need to research into different qualifications and training programmes.

“Teaching and nursing are good examples. For example, a secretary moving from the private sector would need specialist training to become a medical secretary in the NHS.  

“An accountant will not necessarily need to retrain, but will certainly need to get up to speed with a variety of different legislations, statutory frameworks and accountancy systems.”

A recent survey carried out by Hays revealed that fear of unemployment is so high that 60% of those asked would take a pay cut in return for the security of a job in the public sector.