Recruiters have a key role in helping public sector workers make the transition to the private sector, according to Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC).

Up to 490,000 public sector jobs could go by 2014-15 as a result of the cuts programme, according to the Office for Budgetary Responsibility, while in the comprehensive spending review, announced yesterday, the government committed to delivering £6bn of Whitehall savings.

Hadley told Recruiter: “Recruiters will see more public sector workers who are looking for advice. There is an opportunity for our industry to help candidates make the transition and provide guidance.

“Temporary assignments and interim management roles could provide a way into the private sector which will be an avenue a lot of people will have to look at.

Julian Rawel, director of executive education at Bradford University, says: “Making the transition will be necessary as doubts have been raised whether there will be any increase in public sector workforces any time soon.

“What was unveiled was a general downsizing of the public sector, which will mean that when times get  better, I don’t think there will be a natural upsizing of it. I think a culture change is going to happen.

Unlike in the private sector, where greater profits can mean increases in staff, Rawel said that increased tax revenues will not lead to major increases in public sector management forces.

Dean Shoesmith, president of the Public Sector People Manager’s Association (PPMA), told Recruiter that he is unsure whether the private sector can absorb these new entrants to the jobs market. “It will be a challenge for the private sector to absorb the jobs lost in the public sector because I don’t think there is the sufficient growth and new jobs in the labour market.

“There has to be an emphasis on skills development as I don’t think everybody can move across to the private sector at the moment.”

Ian Tomlinson-Roe, HR services partner at PwC, adds: “With labour markets sluggish and a wave of people looking for work, significant numbers of former public sector workers are likely to be unemployed for some time.”

Ed Cox, director of Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) North, says the cuts could disproportionately hit the North of the country: “The severity and speed of the cuts threatens the recovery in Northern England which was hardest hit by the recession and is still struggling to recover.

“With so many jobs in the North reliant on the public sector, fast and deep cuts risk a sudden surge in unemployment and a leap in the welfare bill.”

Mike Phillips, director at Nyman Linden chartered accountants, says that ultimately, the public sector may have to respond in the same way the private sector did in the recession.

“Perhaps the public sector will take on board a budgeting lesson from the private sector. If a public company has to cut costs, it may choose to cull its workforce to satisfy certain stakeholders (ie shareholders and the City). But in the interest of generating future profit, it might re-engage labour under temporary contract which is often a hidden cost under an alternative budget (ie not declared as a labour cost). Whether this is a practice exercised, only time will tell.”