Morley and Outwood MP Andrea Jenkyns has worked with Morley Jobcentre Plus and the Department For Work and Pensions to give jobseekers the opportunity to meet with local and national employers who are currently recruiting for over 100 jobs and apprenticeships in the area. 

The Jobs Fair was held at Morley Jobcentre Plus on Friday 26th February. Employers and recruiters on the day included Positive People Recruitment, YPO, Barclays, White Rose Shopping Centre, The Army, NewDay, Heathcotes, Leeds Employment Services, The Point, RAF, Radis, QHotels, YMCA, Wakefield College, Autocraft, Weston Spencer Group, Rosemont Pharmaceuticals and Peter Duffy Ltd. 

Jobseekers had the opportunity to meet employers and training providers, explore careers and ask questions while practising their networking and conversational skills. CV advice, mock interviews and application support were provided by Andrea, Warren from Positive People Recruitment and the Jobcentre Plus team. Apprentices from some of the exhibitors were available to share their experience and answer questions.

Susan Hanley from LEEP1, an organisation in Leeds that helps people with learning disabilities speak up for themselves attended to promote the organisation and offer advice and guidance.

Andrew the Jobcentre Manager in Morley, highlighted a need in the area for training in the very basic of IT skills which currently act as a barrier to work for many local jobseekers. Andrea will be working closely with Barclays and Morley Jobcentre Plus to set up a Digital Eagles event in the future to go some way towards bridging the skills gap currently preventing local people from finding employment.

Andrea said:

“I would like to thank Andrew at Morley Jobcentre Plus for providing the location for the Jobs Fair and helping us reach more people across the constituency. Andrew and his team do a fantastic job keeping unemployment figures low, their efforts mean that we have to work harder to find opportunities for local people to get them into work or support them in a change of career.”

“It was a fantastic opportunity to talk to local jobseekers and find out how could help them into future employment. Morley and Outwood has only 1.6% unemployment compared to the rest of Yorkshire and The Humber at 3%, having a low unemployment figure makes it increasingly hard to match people, skills and opportunity.”

“We have had some positive feedback already from companies who have already employed someone from the day and hope to hear of many more over the coming weeks”

Autocraft said:

“The Jobs Fair was excellent, as an employer, I was put directly in touch with potential employees who may not otherwise have seen our job adverts”

Ian Hunter District Manager for DWP Jobcentre West Yorkshire said on the day:

“It is so good to have lots of employers in the building and lots of people looking for work and to have the two mingling together. The Jobcentre exists really to help people who haven’t got a job to connect with employers who have vacancies. This is a great opportunity for us to do that.”

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