Recruitment & Skills Insights Report, 2024

In February 2024, we conducted our third officer survey and the first time we shared it across Great Britain.

We run this survey to help us understand the extent of the skills gap, recruitment and retention challenges, and key issues surrounding placemaking capabilities in the public sector directly from the officers working there.

The survey is open to all officers to share their experiences and career plans with us, and those with recruitment or workforce planning responsibilities are asked a few more specific questions. Of the 420 respondents who completed the survey, 141 reported being involved in recruitment at their organisation, and 175 reported being involved in workforce planning; these groups were not mutually exclusive.

When asked about which specific skills their team needs but doesn’t currently have enough of, like in previous years, a wide range of placemaking skills are in demand. Landscape Architecture has become an increasingly needed skill, whilst Planning and Policy has seen a 4% decrease in demand across the last three years.

At the end of the survey, respondents were asked if they had any other comments. We received 108 responses to this question which were grouped into themes. By far, the theme that was commented on the most was the shortage of staff and skilled specialists.

In terms of specific recruitment issues faced in the last year, "Difficulty attracting qualified and skilled candidates” is by far the most common issue, being faced by over 70% of respondents. Uncertainty over funding in the medium to long-term" has increased in 2024 to become the second biggest recruitment issue.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the type of research we do, drop us an email.