IT staff desert dull private sector

Relentless cost cutting and mundane work is driving talented IT staff to desert the private sector for lower-paid but more interesting public sector jobs, recently unveiled research has claimed.

A survey by software company Tridion of 30 of its public sector customers found that a quarter of IT workers had left private sector jobs after projects were shelved.

Investment freezes over the past few years have left many private sector IT staff bored and disillusioned.

In contrast, the traditionally cautious public sector is investing heavily in new IT projects in a bid to meet ambitious e-government targets.

Pete Atkinson, public sector manager at Tridion, said: "Is it any surprise that many staff are leaving for jobs where there is money to spend, a clear goal and more interesting projects?"

When asked to rate factors contributing to job satisfaction, respondents put interesting work, job security and effective budgets ahead of salary levels.

And when quizzed about what frustrated them, mundane and repetitive work came out on top.

"Healthy competition for talent between the public and private sectors may help to kick-start the sluggish recovery everyone is talking about," said Atkinson.

Peter Ford, director of IT at the Housing Corporation, moved back into the public sector last year after completing a major transformation programme in the private sector.

He agreed that money is not the key motivator for many public sector IT professionals.

"A lot of people want to work for organisations that are better aligned with their personal values," he said.

However, Ford also indicated that the trend is likely to reverse as some public sector projects approach delivery towards the middle of next year and the predicted upturn takes hold.

"When projects of a significant size start to emerge back in the private sector we may well see the pendulum swinging back the other way," he said.

Atkinson suggested that, while this may happen, the wall between public and private sector has gone for good.

"In the past, many private sector IT staff might have gone through their whole working lives without ever considering a move to the public sector," he said. "I think that's much less likely to be the case in future."