A new job matching service launched by Telford & Wrekin Council is helping combat unemployment in the area as nationwide jobless figures grow at record levels in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Several companies in the borough have been forced to make redundancies as they struggle to cope with the impact of the coronavirus. But Telford Jobmatch, launched in 2020, is helping them support their employees in finding alternative jobs with other local employers.
Randstad is just one of the recruitment agencies that has successfully recruited new employees on behalf of a number of local businesses as a result of Telford & Wrekin’s job matching service
Andy Evans, Account Manager from Randstad, said: “The partnership with Telford and Wrekin Council has helped us to engage with strong national businesses with a local presence. It has played an integral role in supporting us to place skilled workers unfortunately being made redundant, into world class automotive and manufacturing clients in the local area.
The senior business contacts of the Council’s Enterprise Telford team and the support that the team can offer have been key to successful recruitment.”
While businesses such as Adient, Brintons and Mahle have been making significant numbers of redundancies other businesses in the area have seen an increased need for new workers, CEDO, Avara Foods and Epson are also looking to employ local people.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Business Support Team has identified businesses who were recruiting people with similar skillsets to those facing redundancy, organised site visits and made direct introductions.
Employees have been offered workshops to help them prepare CV’s, brush up on their interview techniques and job searching skills and given advice on the range of free training available.
The council team says the key has been to identify transferable skills as some sectors suffer a downtown while others enjoy significant growth.
Councillor David Wright, Cabinet Member for Economy, Housing, Transport and Infrastructure said: “We are committed to supporting our local businesses and local residents and encourage any businesses to make contact with us. The service is continually evolving and will change to meet the needs of our businesses.”
“Telford & Wrekin Council’s Job Match service is hosted on two websites. The Enterprise Telford website at www.enterprise-telford.co.uk is specific to businesses and the Job Box website at www.telfordjobbox.co.uk is aimed at residents”.
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