More than nine in 10 (92%) of headhunters claim that public sector senior executives are harder to place compared to their private sector counterparts, according to executive search firm InterExec.

Kit Scott-Brown, managing director of InterExec, says: “Public sector executives are currently facing challenges with securing the best job going forward and some will require more help than their private sector peer group.

“We are finding that former civil servants often require advice on how they can be best placed within the private sector, not as a result of their skills or abilities, but on how they access private sector employers.”