Local authority place directors have launched a recruitment campaign aimed at young people to address ‘critical’ workforce challenges in services such as highways, waste and recycling, green space and access.
ADEPT said its Find Your Path campaign will showcase the ‘unique’ opportunities in the place sector of local government and highlight the variety of jobs available.
The campaign has been developed in partnership with the Department for Transport (DfT), Colas, the Association for Public Service Excellence and the Midlands Highway Alliance Plus.
It focuses on attracting young people aged between 18 and 27 to local authority roles, including delivering place services and people-based roles.
ADEPT added that research by its Future Highways Research Group revealed ‘a stark workforce landscape’, with only 11% of local authority staff aged 30 or younger, a lack of diversity, high vacancy rates across critical service areas and urgent skills gaps in environmental and technological domains.
Discussions during the campaign development process revealed that most young people do not understand what local authorities do, are not attracted to local authority careers and are unaware of the range of jobs available.
An eight-week pilot campaign will run in five local authority areas – Barnsley, Hounslow, Oxfordshire, Plymouth and South Gloucestershire.
A social media campaign will be run on TikTok, Meta and YouTube and a dedicated website has been developed where applicants can view live vacancies or register their interest.
ADEPT president Ann Carruthers said: ‘The place sector is facing a critical workforce challenge that threatens our ability to deliver essential services and drive innovation.
‘Young people are crucial to the future of local government: without attracting young and diverse talent, we risk being unable to develop sustainable solutions for our communities, implement new technologies and meet the complex environmental challenges of the future.’
Future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood said: ‘We’re supporting ADEPT’s recruitment campaign, to help the next generation of young people access careers in this important field of work.’
