Homelessness charities and registered social landlords are attributing a recent upsurge in job applications from private sector employees to a need for job security and satisfaction as recession hits the financial markets.
Cuts in pay rises, training and opportunities are prompting employees to leave the private sector, and many City workers have rethought their careers during the summer holidays.
Peter Wallop, group personnel manager for Southern Housing Group, said three of the four employees who joined his department in the last three months came from the private sector, including one from accountant Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles.
He said: "Work-life balance is increasingly becoming an issue, as is job security, and housing is about as secure as it gets. It's nice to walk away and think you are part of something worthwhile."
He added that he was trying to hire people from outside housing who wanted to "make a difference" rather than people with experience of the sector.
Udeni Salmon, head of volunteer support at disability charity Leonard Cheshire, recently joined from City management consultant Deloitte Consulting.
She said: "There is a growing feeling that salary isn't enough. Although salaries are lower [in the not-for-profit and voluntary sectors], they are not 50% lower, more like 20% or 30% lower, and it's worth giving up that to have a job you really enjoy."
Angela Baron, employee resourcing adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, added that Enron-style scandals had also had an effect. She said: "A lot of people are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the perceived self-interest of big business and want to do other things."
Source
Housing Today
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