The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in its report – Jobs of the Future (September 2009) - outlined where new jobs could be created in the UK in the future. It concluded that jobs will increasingly require a higher level of skills and that the number of low level skills jobs will continue to decline.

Impact of the Recession and the Longer Term Demand for Skills (IER Bulletin No 91) from the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research focusses on the recession and skills demands in the longer term.

Becoming smarter about recruitment and retaining staff by developing their full potential is a vital challenge for employers especially within the context of the current recession and the implications for the future funding of public services. Help is available from a range of sources.

RECESSION WATCH

The Real help now website brings together information on what the Government is doing for business, jobs, homes and personal finance to help the economy through the recession.   A leaflet on Real help now for the East of England can be found here.

The current and future state of NHS Finances survey from KPMG and Dr Foster Intelligence summarises the findings from a survey of PCT Finance Directors which took place in June 2009 and was published in September. To access the report, click here.

PRE EMPLOYMENT SKILLS

Jobcentre Plus, the LSC, Train to Gain, Skills for Health and health employers are collaborating via Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs) to create routeways to employment for the long term unemployed. Find out more about working in partnership with Jobcentre Plus in the East of England in the Jobcentre Plus website by clicking here. 

The Employability Skills Matrix developed by Skills for Health (SfH) defines the skills which make recruits "work ready". Information on the matrix can be obtained from the SfH website by clicking here.

RECRUITMENT

• NHS Jobs:  http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/ - carries thousands of job vacancies from NHS employers across England and Wales.
• NHS Professionals:  http://www.nhsprofessionals.nhs.uk/ - has a bank of over 45,500 flexible workers.
• A new temporary supply of Allied Health Professional (AHP) and Health Science Services (HSS) staff framework agreement was published by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Authority (NHS PASA) in April 2009. For further information, see: PASA National Framework Agreement.
• GradsEast: http://www.gradseast.co.uk/ - is a one-stop-shop for graduate jobs in the East of England and provides a free, direct link between graduates and employers. It is funded by the region's Universities and EEDA and is supported by i10.
• The Graduate Talent Pool is a new graduate internship programme and to find out more about the opportunities for employers, click here.
• NHS East of England participates in the national project aimed at helping newly-qualified healthcare professionals find NHS employment. For further information, contact the NHS EoE Multi-Professional Deanery:  http://www.eoedeanery.nhs.uk.

RECRUITING FROM NON TRADITIONAL SOURCES

Groups of recruits that are still underrepresented in the labour market include older workers, those on long term incapacity benefit, female workers, carers etc. They form a substantial potential future workforce (SSA Analytics report 2007 - go to Page 14). The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a report: Equality and Diversity – Monitoring the Impact of Recession on various demographic groups (June 2009) – which looks at the impact of the recession on various groups characterised in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, lone parents, lowest qualified and deprived areas. To access the report, click here. 

The Mental Health Regional Employment Team was set up in response to the Social Exclusion Task Force report Reaching Out (September 2006). This set out recommendations to improve employment opportunities for people with mental health problems, for the benefit of those individuals, their employer and the region’s economy. The East of England RET published its statement of priorities and an action plan for employment and mental health. These include Public Services becoming exemplar employers and the document includes a checklist against targets (further information can be obtained from the Eastern Development Centre website).

Other recent reports include:

• Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health – Commissioning what works: the economic and financial case for supported employment (September 2009). This briefing sets down the financial case for Individual Placement and Support (IPS), a form of supported employment for mental health service users. To access the report, click here. 
• Valuing Employment Now (June 2009).  The DH has published a new cross-Government strategy on increasing the numbers of people with learning difficulties in employment.  For further information, click here.  
• Employment support for carers (Research Report No 597) published by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates that there are currently about 6 million people in Britain who are providing unpaid care and the need for informal care will increase in the future. This research looks at what employment support is required by carers in order to take up and remain in employment. Challenges are highlighed for employers and those working in the Health and Social Care sector. To access the report, click here. 
  

A range of initiatives and incentives to help employers recruit from non traditional routes is being led by Jobcentre Plus, in partnership with the LSC and other organisations, working through Local Employment Partnerships. Schemes include New Deal / Flexible New Deal and Pathways to Work. These schemes are tailored to the health sector through schemes such as the Routeway Project which is being piloted by Skills for Health.

Despite recent improvement, recruitment of under represented groups from East of England to Higher Education remains low.  See SSA Analytics report 2007 - go to Page 51.

RESOURCE GUIDE

To access further information on new roles and teams, including workforce planning and design, see section 5 of the Resource Guide.