Evidence of meeting #166 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was jobs.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Getting beyond that, what should it be at years from now, days from now, when you have changed all of the programs and gotten our act together?
President, Public Service Commission
I think we can easily talk about half that amount of time, notwithstanding again the fact that you can't compare government and private sector hiring. We have to respect certain parameters, and that will always take a little longer.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
That leads into my next question. Are you going to break down what is taking so long? Let's round it down to 180.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Twenty days of that is for security. Forty days is for this. Sixty is for that. What's the big—
President, Public Service Commission
A baseline study was done a few years ago, which did get to the 197 originally. You have things such as advertising. It takes about six days on average. It can be even lower than that. Screening takes 49 days on average. Again, that probably has to do with the amount of attention managers and HR professionals are paying once the results of the applications have come in. Assessments take up to 56 days on average.
Our share of the—
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Can I interrupt for a second?
Mr. Page, what do you see in the real world? I don't want to refer specifically to a entry-level job, but to a mid-term, even upper level, job like at the assistant deputy minister level, such as a general manager, building manager, an executive in the real world.
Government Lead, Talent Solutions, LinkedIn
It ranges pretty significantly by organization.
Government Lead, Talent Solutions, LinkedIn
Anywhere from probably 50 to 90 days on the higher end for a speedy organization.
Conservative
Government Lead, Talent Solutions, LinkedIn
It's probably as quick as 40 days from the start to end of the process.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Thanks.
Mr. Borbey, I'm going back to you.
I have an idea. Maybe you can present the full breakdown in a letter to the committee so we don't use up more time.
Do you believe there's a difficulty attracting people into the public service?
Anecdotally. I haven't seen there is. I don't believe there is. But—
President, Public Service Commission
We get hundreds of thousands of applicants every year in our external processes. I'm told we have 72,000 applicants for our student work experience program.
We are identified in the recent study by Maclean's as the top choice of employer for graduates.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Not pulling out a really specific...but it's a popular employer so we don't have difficulty attracting.
President, Public Service Commission
You do have some hard-to-fill positions.
President, Public Service Commission
That requires a lot more effort. Absolutely.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
You commented that you want to make hiring more open to the outside. Do we have internal rules that force us to focus on internal candidates?
President, Public Service Commission
No. There are no internal rules. It's up to the manager to decide whether a position will be filled through an externally advertised process or an internal process. Of course, there are also many other choices. You can hire a student. You can hire a graduate.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
But to make it fair to the average Canadian who's not on the inside, should every job not be available to every single Canadian taxpayer?
Conservative