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As a graduate of the National Graduate Development Programme, Guy Burchet found himself joining the sector just as the recession hit. Here, he reports on his impressions When I started at my London borough, fresh out of university in the autumn of 2009, the recession was still ravaging the country. Local government and the wider public sector were continuing to shoulder the burden of shoring-up the national economy. Most knew that the local and parliamentary elections looming in the new year were a gathering storm for local government broadly, and for their own jobs specifically. Which-ever party formed a government would be forced to make tough decisions, and our sector was widely known to be heading the list of fall-guys. Against that uncertain backdrop, where did the new, supposedly-bright young things, fresh from university, fit into the picture? In the autumn of 2009, around 2.4 million people were struggling to find a job. Recent graduates were especially unlikely to find paid employment. Therefore, as a member of the-then Improvement and Development Agency's National Graduate Development Programme (NGDP) for local government, I was one of the lucky few who had secured a job in the midst of the economic turbulence. I was relieved and ecstatic – in equal measure. Those of us who had got jobs had also, one might assume, landed on our feet. But had we done so on a killing floor where, as newcomers and outsiders, would we be asked to wield the axe or fill now-vacant shoes? While all around us, specific services were cut, our roles as generalists on relatively-short fixed-term contracts were pretty much secure. But that didn't mean we could feel comfortable. As generalists, many of us didn't feel that confident about what we were doing, or precisely what it was that we might be able to offer a sector about to experience a sea change in – potentially – every facet of its being. There was a real sense of camaraderie, a ‘Blitz spirit' of all being in the crucible together. In many ways, the bad news was always going to be easier to accept when being imposed indirectly from afar. The withdrawal of central government funding allowed many people in local government to accept that inevitable sacrifices needed to be made in a broader, national context. When asked by colleagues if my own job would be secure after last autumn's Comprehensive Spending Review, I sensed no animosity, only concern that the livelihood of a fellow colleague was under the same potential threat as their own. So, as I and my graduate peers bid farewell to 2010, we look back on a year rich with variety, new opportunities and challenges, but also much anxiety. With the increasingly-popular mantra of ‘change is our business as usual' already ringing in our ears, we can feel more confident in our abilities in the coming year, having survived the uncertain trials of the one just past. Guy Burchett is a member of the NGDP graduate scheme in local government, and has been working at Sutton LBC for 12 months

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WHITEHALL

View from a graduate

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