Tender for new All-of-Government recruitment services contract paused

The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the contract, which went live on Friday, 5 August, seeks to refresh the current All-of-Government (AoG) External Recruitment Services (ERS) contract and change the contract’s title to ‘Talent Acquisition Services’ (TAS) to better reflect the evolving nature of finding candidates and matching them with roles in the public service. 

“The Talent Acquisition Services tender has received an incredible amount of interest, demonstrating the importance of the contract for government agencies’ recruitment needs,” says Laurence Pidcock, General Manager New Zealand Government Procurement.

“While engagement was undertaken prior to the RFP going live, including issuing a request for information, supplier briefings and in person meetings, concerns have since been raised by the recruitment industry regarding the proposed shift from a percentage-based pricing model to a fixed fee model and it has become clear that not all voices were heard,” Laurence Pidcock said.

“We want to listen to the concerns that have been raised and therefore we are pausing the RFP. This will provide us time to hear and consider the valuable insights and feedback that those in the industry and the government agencies who use these services will be able to provide.”

The current External Recruitment Services (ERS) contract allows participating agencies to access any of 41 panel providers for a broad range of recruitment services such as permanent, temporary, and contractor placement types, roles in common administration and corporate, common IT jobs and services for payroll-only contractors.

The panel means government agencies can engage with the supplier assured of the same general terms and conditions; currently, 179 government agencies participate in the ERS contract.

“NZGP is committed to providing the best value for taxpayers while also ensuring agencies receive transparency and value for money from the All-of-Government panel providers they use,” Laurence Pidcock said.

“The proposed new fixed fee pricing model is a significant shift in how government agencies who procure recruitment services and recruitment providers who provide these services work together. While the RFP is paused, we will be engaging further to gain a deeper understanding of opportunities that have been brought to our attention and we will be listening; if we can make this solution work better then we need to take this extra time.”

Following the four weeks that the RFP is paused, it is anticipated that the tender process will then continue, however NZGP will provide an update on 30 September.

During the pause to the RFP, NZGP will only be engaging on the pricing model aspect of the RFP; following engagement, the RFP will then resume and if there are any changes to the RFP these will be advised via the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS).

Any further updates will be issued via GETS and NZGP’s other communication channels in due course.