New figures reveal that over 500 employees have left Gateshead Council within the space of a year.
Employee turner has been felt across several departments including children's social care, adult social care, corporate services, economy, housing, and public health. However, housing has seen the largest number of workers leaving totalling 325.
The figures show that 503 council workers left their roles between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.
Data compiled by council officers show resignation as a significant motive for leaving. However, officers are unclear as to the exact reasoning behind the resignations and are working to establish the facts.
The current resignation statistics available to the council are:
- Adult social care - 33
- construction services - 25
- Property and Assets - 47
- Children's social care - 46
Michelle Brown, service director for HR workforce development, said: "Most of the people who are leaving are telling us they are leaving for resignation reasons but what I don't know based on the current way we explore this is the detail behind why they have resigned which the new interview will start to capture."
Ex-staff who have left are also encouraged to complete a form to detail the reasons for leaving the local authority.
Council Dott Burnett commented: "If you are not looking at why people are leaving then you won't know how to put it right because there is a problem in here. There is a problem here and we all know there are a lot of people leaving and we need to get to the bottom of that.
"Sometimes it's money, we all know that and is very difficult because nobody sits down with all of the councils and says we'll pay all the same money for the same job and often they move to another council. There should be a staff survey to figure out what their issues are."
A council's ability to retain staff is a major issue across numerous local authorities across the country, including neighbouring ones. In May this year, Newcastle City Council contracted property firm Krank Knight to help run the iconic Grainger Market after losing 14 members of its property team since 2020.
The decision was dubbed a "dangerous precedent" by independent Newcastle councillor Marc Donnelly.
Gateshead Council is also making efforts to bring more people into its employment via apprenticeships. Figures show the council employs 108 apprentices at the current time with 19 additional apprentices recruited this year. The council also predicts bringing in another 21 apprentices from June to December this year.
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