UNIQUE SHEFFIELD EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME CELEBRATES PLACING 1000 INTO WORK
Sheffield’s unique free community-based job service, Jobnet, is celebrating, having successfully helped 1000 Sheffield people overcome barriers to employment and secure jobs in the city.
Four years after the launch of Jobnet, over 3000 people have been seen in the growing network of Jobnet’s across the city, and many city employers have benefited from 1000 successful employees, who for a multitude of reasons may have otherwise been removed from the labour market and remained unemployed.
Jobnet is a publicly funded service for 16 - 64 year olds living in Sheffield, developed by Sheffield’s Centre For Full Employment. The service caters for everyone seeking work but gives priority to those without work and those in temporary or part-time work. Jobnets are unique in that they are located across the city in local community centres, community shops and community training centres.
Nationally unemployment levels are on the up. According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of unemployed people increased by 133,000 from January – December 2006, reaching 1.69million by the end of the year.
Doug Low, Chief Executive of the Centre For Full Employment said: “It’s a major achievement that Jobnet has helped one thousand people in Sheffield to find full and part time employment since it was first established.
“It’s great news for the economy of Sheffield, as not only are there 1000 less unemployed people in the city thanks to the service, there are also more city businesses able to fill their vacancies quickly and efficiently using the local labour market pool.
“Reaching the 1000th milestone is proof that this service is needed and valued by people in Sheffield who really value having the service on their doorstep and who need that extra bit of advice and support that Jobnet can provide to help them overcome barriers to work.”
One such client who benefited from the extra service that Jobnet provides was the 1000th client into employment, Mavis Turner.
Mavis, 60, was made redundant from a job she held for six years and thought she’d never work again. Within one month, she is working again as a Catering Assistant for South Yorkshire Transport Executive thanks to Jobnet who helped Mavis to write her first CV, provided information on local jobs in catering, helped her fill out application forms and helped her to perfect her interview technique by offering guidance and staging a mock interview.
Mavis said: “When I was first made redundant I thought that I would never work again. Jobnet were fantastic, whenever I went in I always felt welcomed and nothing was ever too much trouble. Thanks to Jobnet my confidence has now returned and I was given the opportunity to work once again.”
Recent Government research has shown that by 2014, there will be more people over 65 than under-16 in the UK. Therefore, employers are being encouraged to recruit workers from increasingly diverse backgrounds, including people from minority ethnic communities, lone parents, older people, and others lacking a recent work history, to maintain their workforce and productivity. *
Doug added: “It was fantastic for us that Mavis was the 1000th person Jobnet supported into employment. Currently the labour market is undergoing major changes – an ageing population has meant employers are having to consider engaging and retaining older workers, an increasingly culturally diverse population means needing to attract a more diverse workforce and the growth of one-parent families has led to greater consideration of lone parent employees. Jobnet is incredibly well situated to support both employers and this future workforce to make this transition, and as the case of Mavis shows, we are already doing so with much success.”
There are currently fifteen Jobnets across the city in Burngreave, Manor Park, Manor Top, Wybourn, Firth Park, Gleadless, Beighton, Stocksbridge, Hillsborough, Norfolk Park, City Centre, Upperthorpe and Netherthorpe, Sharrow, Darnall and Tinsley.
