A new service allows organisations to sell the time of underused staff to voluntary sector groups.

StaffShare, created by Work Wise UK, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes smarter working practices, will allow organisations to register individuals who are currently underused or in a redeployment pool on a website offering their services for short or medium-term secondments.

Organisations, which will initially be restricted to charities and the voluntary sector, can search the website for the skills they need and buy people’s services for the selected period through the website.

The website will match underused corporate skills with charities and voluntary organisations that need to use them but may lack the resources or need to deploy them permanently.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, said: “The credit crunch has forced companies of all sizes to reduce their running costs, but instead of losing trained, skilled employees during a 'period of economic adjustment’, we can help them to offer these skills to charitable and other organisations.”

Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, added: “StaffShare is part of a new approach that is needed if we are to avoid the waste of talent and human tragedies that occur if companies rush prematurely into redundancies when conditions start to get tough.”

Organisations can register individuals in the pilot StaffShare scheme at Work Wise UK.