Getting people into work and ensuring the success of Croydon’s bright future are the principle aims of a free job-matching service launched in Croydon today (Tuesday).
Croydon Works is designed to provide Croydon employers with job-ready local employees, and residents with the support and training they need to find sustainable, quality jobs locally.
The new job-brokerage service is delivered by the council in partnership with Croydon College and the Department for Work and Pensions.
More than 23,000 jobs will be created in Croydon over the next five to seven years as a result of the billions of pounds of investment in regeneration that is currently under way. Those jobs are in addition to others in the immediate travel-to-work area as far as, and including, Gatwick.
The service will work to support the council’s Croydon Promise – Growth for All, the commitment to residents, investors, developers and businesses that it will do all it can to deliver growth that is inclusive and sustainable for everybody. The commitment promises to support Croydon residents, young and old, into employment, and to raise their skills so that they can access the new jobs being created across the borough.
For the borough’s employers, Croydon Works will provide a free-to-use, professional recruitment service, offering tailored training, pre-screened candidates and recruitment events, to ensure that employers can find the staff they need locally.
Tuesday’s launch, in the Braithwaite Hall, was attended by local employers – including Boxpark – senior staff from the council, Croydon College and the Department for Work and Pensions, and representatives of the voluntary sector and training providers.
Speakers included Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for economy and jobs, council chief executive Jo Negrini, and Frances Wadsworth, principal of Croydon College.
Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for economy and jobs
“While Croydon’s unemployment rate is lower than the London average, and our employment rate is rising, there are as many as 13,000 working adults in the borough who are out of work.
“Businesses and employers repeatedly tell us that many people presenting for interview do not have the skills, attitudes and aptitudes required for work, and that’s particularly true of younger people.
“These are the kind of problems that Croydon Works will tackle, with the intention of bringing those people back into the workplace, giving them the confidence and skills that unemployment can, and frequently does, erode.
“As was pointed out by the Croydon Opportunity and Fairness Commission, the borough’s job situation has geographical variations, with some areas having a disproportionate number of people who are out of work and on benefits. We’re confident that the new job-brokerage scheme will address these variations, offering hope and opportunity to those affected.”
