Third of voluntary sector staff work in premises with fewer than 10 staff

National Council for Voluntary Organisations research manager Jenny Clark says this can affect charities' ability to train staff.

Almost a third of voluntary sector workers are in workplaces with fewer than 10 staff, according to figures from the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Jenny Clark, research manager for the NCVO, presented advance figures from the forthcoming UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac 2011 at the NCVO and Voluntary Sector Studies Network's Research Conference in London last week.

She said 31 per cent of voluntary sector workers were employed in workplaces of fewer than 10. In the private sector this figure was 25 per cent and in the public sector it was 7 per cent, she said.

Speaking after the session, Clark told Third Sector: "This can have an impact on the ability to train staff. You don’t get the economies of scale."

She said that 51 per cent of voluntary sector workers were employed in workplaces with fewer than 25 paid staff members. The corresponding figure in the private sector was 42 per cent and in the public sector 17 per cent.

The almanac will be published in October.

Source: Third Sector