Previous page: PWGSC launches recruitment campaign
"With the Ontario Government, we've done something as simple as creating and managing an employee hotline where candidates that have submitted applications to the government can call that 1-800 number anytime, and within four business hours they'll receive a response," says Tighe.
He adds that as baby boomers retire, senior and mid-level positions will be need to be filled. In certain instances, some former government employees have returned on a consultant basis in order to bridge the gap, according to Tighe.
"We really have seen a sincere effort on behalf of the government to try to rejuvenate the lower and mid-levels of the public service," says Tighe. "They recognize there is a shortage of mid-level talent...so you see a lot of people coming back as consultants; you also see government attempting to be more competitive in attracting those mid-level free agents."
The second phase of the PWGSC's recruitment campaign, is a mid-career professional recruitment strategy, which will be key in helping the department maintain the necessary workforce, says Lorenzato.
"When we look at our demographics we have people who will be retiring over the next five years that are at the management level, across all levels," she says. "We need to identify where there'll be a gap, and how we're going to bring people to a level of readiness to take on those positions as they become available."
"It's good to recruit new employees, but you also have to make sure that for the workers that you have, that there will be a retention strategy, succession planning and development programs that will help those people move along faster," says Lorenzato.
One of the areas in which PWGSC has identified a worker shortage is the Information Technology Services Branch (ITSB), says Lorenzato.
"ITSB is really there to attract what we call the 'technical wizards'," says Lorenzato. "ITSB is a microcosm of PWGSC, and we have different types and streams of position that vary from one field to another."
These positions include managing a departmental network, system operations and maintenance, and providing help desk services.
"Some of our challenges with attracting and retaining IT talent is that educational institutions have noticed an enrolment decrease in the IT field, specifically in computer programming and computer science," says Lorenzato.
"That's one of our concerns because if we're not attracting graduates as we should, the industry and the government will be competing for very scarce resources, so we are concerned that we may not have enough specialists for all of the jobs that will be available."
The ITSB is going to participate in the PWGSC career fair during Canada Career Week, Lorenzato adds.
Tighe says that with respect to government requirements, the highest demand areas in IT are for project managers, business analysts, and people with strong business acumen, but with a technology bent.
"That's probably the primary demand at one end of the spectrum, then at the other end, the government still operates most of its applications running on large mainframe systems. So we're still seeing a demand for programmers, developers, systems analysts, and systems programmers, because we're just not producing that talent anymore as a society," says Tighe.
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