A major new online employment resource hub has been launched to help people in Coventry and Warwickshire, who may have lost their job because of the Covid-19 pandemic, find new work.
Coventry and Warwickshire Employment Solutions has been created as a free tool for businesses and job seekers to counter the rising levels of unemployment and will provide individuals and employers with an accessible ‘front door’ to the range of support services that have been initiated as a result of the pandemic.
CW Employment Solutions connects employers and job seekers to a range of services and brings together partners and industry experts to provide access to advice and support for businesses and individuals.
The new portal has been funded by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) in partnership with Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and the FSB.
It will collate current vacancies, and will be updated daily, into one, user-friendly job search tool, providing employers and recruiters with the opportunity to advertise job openings and find advice regarding job retention, upskilling and redundancy support.
It is hoped the website will not only help those who are looking for work, but also help businesses to fill any job vacancies more quickly and efficiently.
CW Employment Solutions will sit alongside the CWLEP Growth Hub’s current ‘FinditinCW’ platform, which allows businesses to connect with local suppliers and supply chain opportunities across the region, and facilitate access to aligned support services, including the Coventry & Warwickshire Redundancy Support Service, Warwickshire Skills Hub and Coventry City Council’s Employer Hub.
Nick Abell, chair of the CWLEP, said Employment Solutions was the latest in range of measures to help the area’s businesses get through the Covid crisis as well as possible.
He said: “The CWLEP, through its Growth Hub, has created Employment Solutions in a very quick time and we are linking with partners including Warwickshire County Council, Coventry City Council, Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and FSB to ensure that – as much as is possible – it is the definitive “go-to” place for those offering posts and people seeking jobs.
“Covid has had a huge impact on our economy, and the CWLEP has been working hard to formulate an effective reset strategy which will allow Coventry and Warwickshire to recover as well as is possible.
“The Employment Solutions website is one of the many key components in that strategy and to have the maximum impact we need local businesses who are recruiting to use this new site, providing further evidence of how well our region can pull together to help each other.”
The pandemic has already had a significant effect on the numbers of unemployed workers in the region.
Between March and August this year, unemployment claims increased from 14,900 to 34,505, and the unemployment rate in Coventry and Warwickshire went from three per cent to seven per cent.
And with figures predicted to get worse, the CWLEP wanted to find a solution quickly to help slow down the increase in unemployment.
With more than 4,500 jobs currently being advertised in the region, it is hoped the new site will make it easier for businesses to reach these jobseekers, many of whom have been made redundant purely down to the pandemic.
CW Employment Solutions will be continually evaluated over its first 12 months to assess how many people are using it, and how many businesses are filling their vacancies as a result of it.
Craig Humphrey, managing director of the CWLEP Growth Hub, said the new service would build off the success of ‘FinditinCW’.
He added: “FinditinCW has gained good traction in a short space of time and the Employment Solutions platform will further add to that, but it will only be effective if we get buy-in from those with vacancies to fill and people who have lost their jobs because of the impact of Covid.
“There are many thousands of skilled, talented people who are out of work through no fault of their own and we want to help them find new roles so they can help the region recover as well as possible.”
The website address is www.cwemploymentsolutions.co.uk
Caption: Nick Abell, the chair of the CWLEP