CANADA - Skills retention program scrapped

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CANADA
Skills retention program scrapped
The Government of British Columbia in Canada has cancelled a $20 million program to retain and protect laid-off Public Servants.
   The Public Service Transformation Fund was designed to keep employees with hard-to-find skills in the PS and to keep it running smoothly in the face of expected job losses.
   The Fund was dismantled by the Government in its Provincial Budget last week and its funding reallocated to health care and education.
   The B.C government told its 20 ministries they would have to find money within their existing budgets to protect or retrain valuable staff.
   Minister for Citizens’ Services, Ben Stewart said the Government didn’t need the funding as it had fired fewer people than expected - around one per cent of total staff, compared to a predicted maximum of five per cent.
   However Public Service Unions said the true loss was not the money but the long-term plan for the Public Service to transform itself and continue functioning amid thousands of future departures.
   President of the B.C Government and Service Employee Union, Darryl Walker said he was frustrated with the lack of future vision.
   “It’s a huge concern for us ... there was a transformation plan, now all of a sudden has this plan suddenly gone out the door?” he asked.
   The Fund was established in the Government’s February 2009 Budget, when $50 million was dedicated to preserving employees whose skills would be in demand in the future.
   The end of the Transformation Fund comes as further staff cuts were announced. An estimated 3,500 full-time positions are expected to be cut over the next three years, totalling around 11 per cent of the PS.
   The Federal Canadian Government is also struggling to cope with the repercussions of the Global Financial Crisis and has announced reductions to the pension plan offered to new Public Service recruits.
   Unions said the move to cut pensions could put graduates off entering the Service and lead to a mass exodus of workers retiring before the changes come into effect.
   Departments now have a target of hiring 4,000 new graduates by the end of March.

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