A CENTURY OF CHANGE; WHERE WILL YOUR NEXT EMPLOYEE COME FROM?

TO coincide with its 100th anniversary, Jobcentre Plus is announcing new ways in which it plans to engage with employers and customers. In September 1909 the Labour Exchanges Act was passed, which led to the creation of "Labour Exchanges" to help unemployed people find work. By 1914, the Board of Trade, led by Winston Churchill as its president, had opened 430 of these offices across the country.

Many will recall the uninviting Jobcentre of the 1970s and 80s - jobs listed on pieces of paper, queues and screens separating customers from staff. A manual system meant it was only possible for jobs to be advertised in the local area and jobseekers had to come to the office and spend time reading through the display cards.

Since then Jobcentre Plus has invested pounds 1.9bn to modernise its entire office network. They offer Europe's largest online jobs database, with vacancy information also available in all of their offices and over the telephone. The department also works closer with employers than ever before to provide a tailored recruitment service to suit their circumstances. Jan Thirlaway, Customer Services Director for Jobcentre Plus in the North East is certain the region boasts a modern first-class service for all employers, large and small.

She said: "In the past, all employers, regardless of how many vacancies they were advertising, had to visit a Jobcentre and fill in a form.

"Now we offer a professional, modern and, of course, free vacancy advertising service that is designed for all businesses.

"Today our account managers help to meet the needs of larger scale recruiters, whereas smaller ones may benefit from Employer Direct online, which lets them manage their vacancies on our database themselves.

"We can also offer free interview rooms, help with sifting and shortlisting and organise sector-specific recruitment events.

"Whether it's filling one vacancy or hundreds, we can help employers to reach the talent they need and I would urge all of our employers to get in touch and find out how we can meet their needs today."

Care UK is one employer to have benefited from Jobcentre Plus's modern, adaptable service. Last month they, and other care sector employers, attended a 'speed-networking' recruitment day organised by Jobcentre Plus and Gateshead Council. The event was attended by 50 jobseekers, who had the chance to spend several minutes with each employer and learn more about the vacancies on offer.

Sharon Bell, recruitment manager for Newcastle branch of Care UK said: "We are very grateful to Jobcentre Plus and Gateshead Council for providing this opportunity to meet potential employees in an event like this.

"We found it a unique way to meet people and talk to them about the sort of vacancies we have. I found the people we met were well prepared and really keen to find out more about what it is like to work in the care sector and I look forward to offering some of the successful candidates employment with Care UK."

For more information on the modern service Jobcentre Plus can offer employers, contact Dorothy Bowmaker on 01642 413723.

THE current recession has seen many people find themselves out of work for the first time in their career or after having worked for the same employer for many years.

For employers who are willing to be flexible and consider candidates' skills rather than relevant experience, the current situation offers them access to an increasing pool of talent.

Jobcentre Plus is helping businesses from a variety of sectors to take advantage of the government support available to move redundant people back into the workplace quickly and put their skills to use once more.

Jan Thirlaway, Jobcentre Plus Customer Services Director for the North East explains: "We frequently see jobseekers who have developed an excellent set of skills, however their confidence may have taken a knock if they've been made redundant.

"Our job is to support and encourage them to think about how they can make the most of their knowledge in a new role, but also to work with employers and help them to see how the experience of these candidates would be of benefit.

"Someone who has worked in a shop, dealing with people all day, will probably have great customer service skills that could be used in a contact centre role, for example.

"It can be hard for jobseekers' potential to come across on paper so it's great we can work with employers to offer recruitment packages which suit both them and the jobseeker equally well. Some of the opportunities we''re able to offer include arranging for people to try out in roles whilst continuing to claim their benefits as an alternative to an interview.

"We can also help with pre-employment training for candidates and may be able to provide funding for on the job training."

In this region, Jobcentre Plus has been working with call sector employers to help fill their recruitment needs. Jobcentre Plus staff have successfully helped them to recruit from outside the industry by promoting their vacancies to jobseekers with relevant skills and supporting them to retrain.

One of these employers is Newcastle-based green support services provider eaga.

Senior Recruiter, Zoe Muirhead, explains: "Jobcentre Plus offers us a very good selection of candidates. Within those we saw several making a complete change of direction in their careers." Toni Dack is one of those who has taken the step to change employment sectors. She was employed for many years by Findus until she was made redundant earlier this year.

Rather than look for similar work, Toni spoke to their Jobcentre Plus adviser about moving into a different employment sector.

Toni said: "I realised I had some transferable skills that would suit working in the customer services sector after speaking to my adviser, who explained what the employer was looking for. My adviser suggested a training course would give me extra skills I lacked and I enrolled on a course designed for the call centre industry.

The training was excellent and I'm delighted to have found a job and love the work that I am now doing - it's a complete breath of fresh air."

Eaga is delighted Toni took that decision to change careers: "It is great to welcome people like Toni into our company," said Zoe. "She has shown great enthusiasm and commitment to take the step in the first place. We welcome a diverse workforce and life experience can count for a lot. I'm sure more people like Toni will consider a change of careers in the coming months and hopefully we will welcome some of these into our industry."

CAPTION(S):

RIGHT ON QUEUE: THE JOB CENTRE IN YEARS GONE BY.