The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has awarded the contract for the recruitment, payroll and training of staff for the upcoming Census Test 2007 in England and Wales to consultancy Hays Specialist Recruitment.
The work has been outsourced for the first time, to see whether it improves the quality and quantity of resources during the test, which will be carried out in parts of Bath, Camden, Carmarthenshire, Liverpool and Stoke.
The test is designed the assess the effectiveness of the proposed changes to the 2011 Census design.
With a target of up to 140,000 households to be reached in the test, Hays will contribute by recruiting, training and managing the part-time teams who will carry out the fieldwork.
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Julia Gardner, director of public services at Hays, said: “We are keen to work closely with the local authorities involved in the census test areas, in particular in the recruitment exercises, as we feel it is important to the success of the test to involve as many of the local community as possible.”
The training will be delivered though a blended learning approach, using a mix of classroom based learning and e-learning.
