A leading voice for people issues in local government has predicted that the recruitment market for public authorities will soon rapidly diminish and face ongoing lean times “until the public purse is balanced effectively”.

Speaking exclusively to Recruiter, Stephen Moir, corporate director for people, policy and law for Cambridgeshire County Council, public sector will soon focus only on roles “we absolutely have to fill, statutory requirements such as health-related roles and social care”.

“I actually think the recruitment market for public authorities is going to drop significantly in the next 12 months, and… I don’t think it matters which party wins the General Election - whichever party’s in power, they’re going to have to tackle public sector debt,” Moir said.

A clear loser in the battle to cut government debt levels will be public sector jobs. “They’re going to have to make cuts, reductions in funding, reductions in jobs. It’s easier to delete vacant posts and restructure than pay costs and pay out redundancies, but there will be job cuts and redundancies, and that’s not going to be just in 12 months’ time” Moir said.

“I think that’s going to be an ongoing issue until the public purse is balanced effectively.”

He also suggested that the kinds of skills currently required of human resources professionals working within the public sector could change as organisations shift their emphasis from growth and development. “If you’re not recruiting, but downsizing, you will probably need a different set of HR people, a different set of skills,” he said.