NSW overhauls contingent workforce recruitment

By Staff writers

New South Wales Minister for Finance and Services, Greg Pearce, has pushed on with a shake-up to open the state government’s procurement machinery to a wider array of suppliers, with human resources and recruitment services now squarely in the frame.

Recent changes ushered in by Mr Pearce’s department have been revealed in the release of a list of the state government’s preferred recruitment suppliers that has been issued following a recent overhaul of how public sector agencies hire their ‘non-permanent’ workforces.

The opening of access to non-permanent government jobs to a wider range of recruitment services providers is expected to give departments and agencies more flexibility to fill critical skills gaps and staff-up new projects and initiatives as part of wider reforms and policy plans being put in place by the recently elected O’Farrell government.

The latest list of suppliers was quietly released at the end of March 2013 and is as part of the government’s plan to create a pre-qualification scheme to replace the State Contract C100.

The C100 arrangement was the state government’s previous contingent workforce contract plan and the list of suppliers on it was made public through the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

The Department of Financial Services effectively called time on the State Contract C100 after it described it as a “closed panel contract, which was complex and locked out many suppliers, including small businesses”.

Mr Pearce believes the new pre-qualification scheme will “breathe life” into this area of procurement for the NSW government because its new self-service, online application process for suppliers can be made at any time, terms and conditions are simplified and insurance requirements are reduced.

Those helping to match recruitment providers and candidates with government openings have warmly welcomed the recent changes.

The Intermedia Group, which is the publisher of Government News, has launched a new online job service that aims to broaden the reach of candidates, recruiters and employers when it comes to matching public sector workforce demand with a talented labour pool.

Simply called Government News Jobs, the new service operates through Intermedia’s existing recruitment portal Jobla and allows public sector employees and other readers of Government News to see positions on offer as the become available through the Government News’ already popular website.

Jobla general manager Paul Humberstone said the new service will tap into sought after candidate pools that would otherwise not be aware of positions they may well want to apply for.

“Government News Jobs provides employers with the unique opportunity to reach our engaged audience of more than 10,000 government professionals, in particular to showcase their job vacancies to passive job seekers that aren’t actively interfacing with other online job resources Mr Humberstone said.

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