Public sector HR departments have been urged to think about ways they can support staff both emotionally and practically as the sector prepares to cut headcount.

As the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development predicted earlier this week that the sector could cut as many as half a million employees, Mark Staniland, managing director of Hays Career Transition Services, says: “There is an urgent need for the HR community in this sector to step up and help employees cope with the changes ahead, and support them in finding new roles. The evidence to date suggests that they may be under-resourced to handle redundancies.

“Now is the time for HR professionals in the public sector to think about ways they can support staff both emotionally and practically during this period of transition. As well as identifying ways to redeploy staff, they may need to offer opportunities to retrain and provide advice and counselling.

“Job cuts may be the right solution, but they can cause greater problems further down the line if employers do not take steps to protect their employer brand by using career transition services.”