Rhona Humphreys said her experience in industry had shown her that using agencies could be costly and result in dissatisfied recruits and demotivated colleagues.
In reply to her Rule 14 questions, the Policy & Resources Committee drew a distinction between recruiting agency workers for temporary roles, typically in health and social care or education, and using agencies to fill permanent positions.
‘Agency workers cover vacant positions or long-term absences in those operational areas to ensure that essential public services can be maintained,’ said P&R president Lindsay de Sausmarez.
‘The use of recruitment agencies to source candidates to fill permanent positions is limited. This is because most recruitment is carried out through direct advertisement.
‘On occasions – for example if the standard approach to market has not been successful or if there is a known shortage of a particular technical skill or specialism – a recruitment agency may be asked to assist with the provision of suitable candidates.’
P&R was unable to provide a figure for how many off-island staff recruited through agencies had since left employment, either of their own volition or having failed to pass probation, as it did not collect such data.
The senior committee said that temporary workers were subject to immediate termination if their performance failed short of expectations, whereas permanent recruits had a standard probationary period.
In the first nine months of 2025, a total of 14 employees had failed their probation, accounting for about 2.5% of all new recruits in that period. The commission rates for recruitment agencies used by the States was between 10% and 12% for temporary roles, and 13% for permanent employees. If a temporary worker became a permanent employee within six months, a fixed recruitment fee of £250 was paid.
Procurement processes were in place to monitor the performance of recruitment agencies and ensure they were working to the best interest of the States and the employees. They must meet specific requirements, which includes agreeing to flat fee arrangements.
Recruitment agencies took responsibility for informing their non-local candidates about living and working in Guernsey. But States managers and human resources staff offered help with relocation support.
Deputy Humphreys asked if the States interviewed potential recruits found through agencies.
‘Agency workers for temporary assignments are employees of the recruitment agency. As such, the agency will have interviewed the worker as part of its own onboarding process,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.
‘The profile of an agency worker will then be presented to the hiring manager at the States who will decide whether the person is suitable for the agency assignment. This will include screening of the agency worker’s CV and an interview for those preferred agency workers.
Similar principles apply for those agencies promoting candidates for permanent positions in terms of the agency’s onboarding. This would then be followed by an interview with a States manager should the candidate be shortlisted.’
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