Public sector workers are doing it for themselves

One upside of the public sector cuts could be an increase in start-up companies. With so many people losing their jobs, it's possible that many could decide to start their own business.

This was an issue discussed at the Comment Conference on Enterprise which I attended last week. During the closing panel session, Donald Steel, the BBC's former chief media spokesman who is now running his own reputation management consultancy, said: "We are currently creating a huge enterprise fund; it's called redundancy money".

There are already signs that it is happening.

In Lancashire, for instance, a group of former public sector employees have recently started Kirkwells, a town planning consultancy. Commenting on the move, Michael Wellock, one of the company's five directors, said: "We were not prepared to wait around for something to turn up, or someone to create a job for us. We decided the best way to get on was to do it for ourselves. There has been a lot of talk about public workers moving in to the private sector and how difficult that may be. For us it seemed natural. We all have get up and go, flair, and a desire to succeed. So this move was an obvious one."

Entrepreneurialism won't of course suit all redundant public sector workers and us fans of enterprise must always remember that. For many however it could be the perfect solution and also one which benefits the economy and contributes to creating the 'Entrepreneurial Decade' we keep hearing so much about.

Key to it though is training. As Steel pointed out at the conference last week, public sector workers who have lost their job need to be made that starting a business is an option which needn't be difficult. Many redundant public sector staff he has come across, Steel claimed, have been given a pay-off and left to their own devices. This shouldn't be the case and appropriate advisory solutions should be founded.  

Indeed, enterprise support aimed at former public sector staff may well be an entrepreneurial opportunity itself!