Council pays £29,000 just to head hunt three manager posts (From Basildon Recorder)
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Council pays £29,000 just to head hunt three manager posts
2:30pm Friday 25th January 2013 in News By Jon Austin
Phil Turner
CASH-strapped Basildon Council has spent £29,000 on hiring headhunters to recruit three senior managers, the Echo can reveal.
The spending comes as 1,000 employees at the council were put at risk of redundancy with some 200 jobs set to go.
The council has hired Solace Enterprises to recruit a new head of customer service, head of regeneration and an asset manager for the housing department.
One council worker in the refuse team, who refused to be named, said: “This is like a kick in the teeth.
Everyone is terrified they might lose their jobs and then we hear that they are paying thousands to headhunt people and can hire more consultants at the drop of a hat.”
Basildon Labour group leader Nigel Smith said: “We are paying over the odds for senior staff while cutting lower jobs providing valuable services for the public."
Phil Turner, deputy council leader, said the consultants had their “finger on the pulse” of the type of staff the council needs.
He said: “What we do is test the market for the best people. We use recruitment consultants to make sure we access the opportunities for the best candidates to come forward.”
Comments(7)
andyh
says...
3:26pm Fri 25 Jan 13
GrumpyofLeigh
says...
3:55pm Fri 25 Jan 13
Then again.....ummm...
Discouraged
says...
4:35pm Fri 25 Jan 13
shallotman
says...
5:37pm Fri 25 Jan 13
Cosmo Spring
says...
5:43pm Fri 25 Jan 13
shallotman wrote:this is an indication why.
I thought the Council was short of money.
TheWizzard
says...
11:03am Sun 27 Jan 13
Discouraged wrote:£200,000,000 debt i believe and rising by the sound of it!
They also spend £800 a day on temps while others are on notice that they may lose their jobs. Huge debts over the sports centre are forcing the council to sell off any bit of green to developers. Kitchens fitted by a company employed by the council had to be removed as they were rubbish. This is what happens when fools are given a cheque book.
Alice in Her Own Land :P says...
2:35pm Fri 25 Jan 13