Bolton’s Labour Market
December’s report from Jobcentre Plus was released just before Christmas. Vacancies are up on a year ago, with 1880 new vacancies notified in the month compared to 1323 a year earlier.
The data showed the claimant count had dropped slightly (by 0.8%) with 8224 people claiming JobSeeker’s Allowance (JSA) in the borough but with 110226 in waged employment. The over 50s seemed to fare best, with these numbers on JSA falling while those on JSA from the 18-24 year old and 25-50 year old groups increased.
So where are the jobs? The top ten vacancies are as follows:
Call centre agents/operators 240
Telephone salespersons 224
Care assistants and home carers 215
Customer care occupations 153
Sales representatives 125
Heavy goods vehicle drivers 61
Cleaners, domestics 55
Sales and retail assistants 51
Sales related occupations 46
Collector salespersons and credit agents 40
However, claimants seek the following as their preferred work:
Sales and retail assistants 305
Other goods handling and storage occupations 180
General office assistants/clerks 105
Packers, bottlers, canners, fillers 65
Occupation unknown 55
Labourers in process and plant operations n.e.c. 50
Van drivers 45
Cleaners, domestics 45
Care assistants and home carers 25
Labourers in building and woodworking trades 25
Kitchen and catering assistants 25
Bar staff 25
Retail cashiers and check-out operators 20
Customer care occupations 20
Security guards and related occupations 20
Gardeners and groundsmen/groundswomen 15
Call centre agents/operators 15
Labourers in other construction trades 15
There is clearly a mismatch between vacancies and jobs sought. It is noteworthy that vacancies are more office based and requiring softer people skills than the more manual work sought be many.
If any readers are interested in careers in Call Centres, Telesales or Customer Care, Good People is experienced in sourcing candidates for this type of work and can assess your suitability for these roles. You can contact us on 01024 373698 or email us at mail@goodpeopleservices.com
