In order to react to labour market changes quickly, Jobcentre Plus offices in the UK need to be looked at, one group has urged, which could see recruitment strategies changing.
Steve Huxham, chairman of the Recruitment Society, said that perception may be causing a problem for job centres, explaining that those looking for graduate employment and middle-class, white collar jobs may not see the sites as the most appropriate.
“For a publicly-funded service, the aspiration of Jobcentre Plus has got to be that they are equally adept to deal with the graduate market as they are for the middle management market,” he added.
Mr Huxham went on to note that the model Jobcentre Plus offices are currently working to need to be seen as fast enough to work in the modern world.
His comments come after the Federation of Small Businesses said urgent reform of job centres was needed, with 34 per cent of its members believing the service was currently ineffective or very ineffective.
We hear from Job Centres every week, and their front line staff certainly seem to be under a lot of pressure but working hard.
They DO have specific assistance for newly unemployed professionals and Executives. The DWP set up a Jobsearch support scheme so that Job Centres can refer this group to selected professional orgainisations – largely Recruitment Consultancies who run courses on modern jobsearching techniques, use of internet, job boards, CV and cover letters, social networking sites etc. This has been running since April, and is now gaining momentum as awareness and understanding spreads with their Advisers.
We are one of many providers, and I can confirm that everyone who has attended to date seems to go away inspired and armed with useful tools to get them back into work.
More details on the REC website: http://www.rec.uk.com/about-recruitment/externalrelations/campaigns/jobcentreplus
Encouraging managers, graduates etc to feel there is a decent future for them in the workplace is certainly a help, so is giving them some extra tools for job search.
We find that managers NEED one to one help to identify the particular skills, past achievements etc that mark them out from what is very strong competition. The “group” approach doesn’t seem to allow for this.