CHARTERED accountant Ian Hollows spent most of his career as a consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers, travelling the world and putting in the hours that go hand in hand with a six-figure salary and partnership status.

Nine months ago he waved goodbye to the private sector, took a “substantial” salary cut and instead embraced the public-sector world by becoming finance director of Moor-fields Eye Hospital in London.

Although he’s now earning about half of what he was – though he says it is still in six figures and the jobs are not comparable – on the upside he gets a final-salary pension to which the NHS contributes about 20% compared with the 8%-10% his previous employer was making.

He is one of a growing number of business high-flyers seduced away from the private sector by the lure of job security, generous pensions and better quality of life. The rewards, he said, included the satisfaction of working for a hospital with a world-wide reputation and knowing that his efforts make a difference.

He has also waved goodbye to crippling working hours. “At certain times, working for Price Waterhouse – especially when you were closing deals – you would be working through the night or 14 hours a day, six days a week,” he said, adding that his working day was now a more forgiving 10 hours a day.

But those who are considering making the change should bear in mind the different culture, too. “There is a challenge in terms of the resources available,” said Hollows. “They won’t be exposed to the same level of infrastructure as they are used to in the private sector.”

He also found the greater level of regulation and bureaucracy in the NHS surprising – it meant he was not able to make the quick, independent decisions he had been used to.

What about adjusting to the cut in salary? “As far as remuneration is concerned, I am at a stage in my career [he is 57] where the move wasn’t about that.

“Security certainly matters – I flatter myself that I could stay in the NHS as long as I want to – my contract gives me a much greater degree of security than when I was in the private sector.”

Weighing everything up he considers that his decision to move was the right one. And the public sector is becoming ever more attractive to those who in the past would have scorned it as a soft, and not particularly lucrative, option. So much so that Hays Recruitment Consultants, Britain’s biggest recruitment agency, is predicting that one of the best ways for people to protect themselves during the recession is to court jobs in the public sector.

It has just launched a survey to gauge how much people will sacrifice in terms of salary and relocation for a more secure job.

“The survey looks at how recession-proof people are and how to make oneself more attractive to one of the most secure areas of employ-ment – the public sector,” explained Robert-John Tasker, a spokesman for Hays.

Among the questions asked in the survey are: Would you consider moving to the public sector? If so, what has influenced this decision? Would you be prepared to take a salary cut for improved job security in the public sector? Has your perception of working in the public sector improved in the economic downturn?

Mark Staniland, director for Hays UK Public Service, said: “We noticed a trend across our business of more candidates looking at work in the public sector and being more attracted to public-sector vacancies. This is probably being driven by the current economic conditions, which are likely to prevail for the next one to two years. We wanted to substantiate that trend and find out more about it – what is it that people are looking for? Is it more security?

“Anecdotally, we have certainly noticed a greater enthusiasm for jobs in the public sector and a feeling that the public sector is probably more dynamic than it has been in the past. And, of course, there are the perks – not least the pensions.”

The findings are expected to be published this Wednesday, but meanwhile Hays Recruitment Consultants’ hunches are borne out by the Taxpayers’ Alliance whose research shows that not only are public-sector jobs now increasingly better paid, but offer far better working conditions than those in the private world.

Matthew Sinclair, research director at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “Workers in the public sector generally earn more than those in the private sector, and the gap is widening.

“At the same time they work fewer hours and take more time off sick. Increasingly, taxpayers’ money is being used to support generous treatment for public-sector workers that the private sector just can’t afford.

“The public sector is an increasingly attractive place to work as it is defying economic reality by continuing to increase the number of jobs despite the recession.”

However, he also felt that the politics of work within the public sector did not suit everyone.

“Unfortunately, you’ll have to put up with the endless form-filling, target chasing and micro-management by meddling politicians that comes with working in the public sector.”

Headhunter Phil Sharp, managing director of Executive Headhunters in London, had also noticed the trend but felt people shouldn’t put too much faith in the benefits of the public sector.

In his experience the overriding experience of those who had made the jump was “frustration”.

“A lot of them question whether they have made the right move, particularly people who have been at a very senior level of responsibility,” he said, adding that trying to effect change in public organisations “was like trying to turn round a container ship when you’ve been used to the turning circle of a black cab”.

But Alan Simmons, careers consultant at NHS Careers, was more upbeat. He has noticed more inquiries coming in about jobs in the NHS from people in the private sector and said the opportunities were enormous, especially for those with experience in human resources, finance, PR and project management.

Simmons didn’t feel the NHS could yet compete with salary levels in the private sector, but had other perks to offer.

“We offer job satisfaction, good pension and holidays, a certain amount of security, an average working week of 37½ hours and 27 days off a year rising to 33 after 10 years,” he said.

Nigel Addison Smith, finance director of the Export Credit Guarantee Department, a government bank that finances British exports, previously worked at KPMG and online travel company eBookers before going into the public sector.

“The most obvious difference is the profit motive, which is the primary driving force in the private sector – my main driving forces are the ministers and taxpayers,” he said.

“The public sector is more risk averse – it wants to see things are being done correctly, so more thought and research goes into decision making.”

How the gap is getting wider

LIFE in the public sector can mean better pay and shorter hours and the difference is growing:

Median gross annual pay 2008: Public sector – £21,413 Private sector – £20,715

Median paid hours worked 2008: Public sector – 36.0 Private sector – 37.5

Median gross hourly pay 2008: Public sector – £12.32 Private sector – £9.86 (From the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2008)

Median gross hourly pay 2000: Public sector – £8.77 Private sector – £7.50 (From the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2000)

A comparison of the 2008 and 2000 figures shows growth in public-sector median hourly pay at 40.5% easily outpaced the growth in private-sector median hourly pay of 31.5%

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