Can recruiters help the long-term unemployed back to work?

Tim Sutcliffe

Tim Sutcliffe, director at multi-sector recruiter Barker Ross, talks about the Barker Ross Academy, which is working with Job Centres to take people off benefits and get them into work. 

Developing our new Training Academy has been an evolution for us, rather than a step into something new.  As recruiters of temporary labour, many of our potential candidates are unemployed so we know what stops them getting work.   Our Training Academy marries our real world labour experience with bespoke training; turning unemployed people into confident, skilled and assured workers.

Before I started in recruitment I was a temporary worker. The experience on the other side has led me to create a mentality that ensures our candidates get the best experience possible.   So we spend a lot of time training and when I talk about training, I don’t just mean statutory health and safety training; but making sure people know what to expect from a job.

We know people who have been unemployed or maybe never worked can find it frightening to go into a bustling factory or office and without support, the candidate can find it hard to continue.  This becomes a big problem with the younger long term unemployed, who have no workplace experience, as that lack of experience a big employment barrier.  Our Training Academy is designed to provide people with skills to take on a particular role and take the first step into work.

We work with businesses that allow pre-screened unemployed people to receive a mix of classroom and on the job training on their premises.   We assess candidates carefully to match them with the skills required for specific job roles.  This is important as the aim is to ensure people will stay in that job for at least six months, if not longer.

At the end of the training the candidate will be offered full time employment for the role they have trained for or we will look for another role.  There is no obligation on the company or trainee to take on the job at the end of the training period, but as we do spend quite a lot of time matching people and companies, we have had a good success rate so far.

Clients benefit greatly as they get a semi—experienced candidate from day one with the training provided by Barker Ross.  Candidates get a job they have been prepared for, gain new skills, a recognised qualification and an improved CV.  As far as Barker Ross is concerned, we gain by filling vacancies for our clients with pre-screened and trained candidates who we are confident can deliver.

Currently the Academy offers training in the areas of warehouse and logistics, food manufacturing and customer service.  So far 265 people have been through the Academy and over 500 are currently being interviewed to go onto courses.

Tim Sutcliffe is director at Barker Ross, which recruits for engineering, office staff, construction and industrial jobs.