Employers and job seekers were offered the chance to compare notes at a bespoke careers event at Redcar and Cleveland College.
The socially distanced Q&A was an opportunity for businesses to broaden their net when it comes to filling upcoming vacancies, while for job seekers it offered the chance of that first foot in the door.
“We wanted to bring employers and job seekers together for both sides to see what and who is out there,” said the college’s Group Head of Commercial Development, Graeme Wood.
“We have adult learners who have proven they have the enthusiasm, dedication and commitment to develop their skills for work through our sector based work academies, at the same time there are local employers with real jobs in the pipeline.”
Businesses offering an insight included WSG Industrial Services, rope access specialists, Total Solutions Ltd, D.Jones Construction and Haulage Limited and CW Russell Haulage, along with representatives from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s Grangetown and Skinningrove Hubs.
Employer David Jones said: “We wanted to see the calibre of the candidates that are out there and I was really quite impressed.” With a contract allocated on the Teesworks site, he added: “It’s great to see there are people out there with the skill-set needed to start work.”
Mike Lee, director of WSG Industrial Services, said: “We have been in the Teesside area for 27 years. We are passionate about local people, local jobs and local industry.”
Keen to play their part in developing and upskilling a local workforce for the opportunities ahead, he said: “Everyone that was here today deserves a job. Now it is our challenge, as employers together, to help get them into work.”
And, it seems, there are jobs out there. Tom Russell is director of CW Russell, a family run business that goes back three generations. He said: “We are a growing company that now employs 50 people locally, almost all of those are from the Tees Valley.
“We have taken five people on in the last month to work full-time on the Teesworks site, taking our total on site to 15.”
Of the careers focused guidance meeting at Redcar and Cleveland College, aimed at adult learners completing short skills-based courses at the college, he said: “It’s good to bring people who are struggling to find work and employers together to talk about the opportunities that are there.”
Working with the college to deliver routeway to rope access courses, Mick Flaherty, managing director of Total Solutions, said: “Helping people to improve their lifestyle by gaining skills to get back into work is something we would like to be a part of at Total Solutions.
“For me, events such as this one, giving employers and potential employees the chance to just sit and chat, helps to create awareness of employment and training opportunities and for us to understand the talent out there.”
Daniel Adams, employment project co-ordinator with Redcar and Cleveland Council, added: “It makes sense to have those relationships between the employment hubs, the college, local employers and training providers, because when it comes to getting people upskilled and into work, we all have shared goals.”
To find out more about the adult courses and sector based work academies available with Redcar and Cleveland College visit: www.cleveland.ac.uk/for-business/unemployment-and-retraining
