West Berkshire Council considers seeking staff from abroad

West  Berkshire Council is to consider international recruitment campaigns to fill vacancies.

It is also going to hire two ‘talent attraction’ specialists to help with its staffing crisis.

The council currently has a headcount of 1,532 people – but has around 193 vacant posts.

A report to the council’s personnel committee says the council is also increasingly reliant on using agencies to fill gaps – which costs more.

Agency costs have increased by £3m in the last year, although much of that increase is being put down to the need for more staff during the pandemic.

The increasing cost for agency employees is now on the council’s risk register. 

It also intends to ramp up its social media activity to encourage people to apply for jobs.