Gateshead council is urgently addressing its ageing workforce with warnings that the authority's tree surgeons are 'too old to go up trees'.
A report shown to councillors states 29% (1,494 employees) of the local authority’s staff are aged 55-64, whereas only 12% (614) of staff are aged 25-34. A mere five per cent are aged between 16-24 (242).
This is particularly evident in the environment and fleet, property and assets, and integrated social care departments.
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The report states the current situation presents “challenges for the council in relation to succession planning to ensure that services have staff with the right skills and experience to deliver an effective service”.
The environment and fleet department are also recruiting for a new tree surgeon.
Blaydon councillor Steve Ronchetti told the committee: “I can see two issues with this. One is the competency among the workforce. If you look at the tree surgeons, they are too old to go up trees now and consequently the council has to bring in contractors to do the tree work, just when they are at their most expensive.
“The other thing is, looking at the age profile, you’re going to see, over the next 10 years, a massive pressure on the pension scheme. ”
Dunston and Teams councillor Dot Burnett told the committee: “I think we have got to identify deeper than this what the issues are around recruiting people and if it’s because of pay or conditions we have got to look at it. If we are going to look at the age profile we need to have a look at the whole situation as far as employment is concerned.”
Winlaton and High Spen councillor Julie Simpson advocated for council open days to better engage with people looking for work in the council and better promote vacancies.
Several employment programmes are now in place to help mitigate the pressure. Progress includes the appointment of four social worker apprentices with recruitment ongoing for three adult social care employees.
Social care career pathways are being looked into and could offer qualifications from level two to six. Council officers are also examining five year plans for the construction arm of the local authority to ensure adequate numbers of apprentices are in the recruitment pipeline.
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