Hundreds of jobs being created at county sites
£500 ATTENDANCE BONUS FOR NEW STARTERS
MORE than 200 jobs are available now an online retailer has moved into its huge warehouse near East Midlands Airport.
Buy It Direct is looking to fill up its positions quickly by offering a £500 attendance bonus for new starters due to a UK-wide labour shortage.
The firm’s 525,000 sq ft warehouse is based at East Midlands Distribution Centre, close to the M1, A50, and Castle Donington.
The retailer sells a range of goods such as mobile phones, baths, TVs and beds under a number of brands including Appliances Direct, Laptops Direct, Furniture 123, and Better Bathrooms.
It’s not just Buy It Direct that is looking for workers, either, with multiple vacancies at DHL’s East Midlands Airport hub, as well as two new DHL supply chain sites at the nearby Segro Logistics Park at East Midlands Gateway.
The parcel company needs a number of positions filled, including warehouse operatives, sorter loaders, and administration and customer service roles – plus some more senior roles that are also available.
Elsewhere in Leicestershire, there are 19 production operatives roles available through FSI Recruitment in Measham.
Freight forwarding company Rhenus Warehouse Solutions at Magna Park, Lutterworth, is working with Market Harborough’s job centre on a rolling recruitment campaign.
The business is seeking candidates for full and part-time warehouse work, and is offering an attendance bonus of £15 per shift up until the end of December.
Help at Home, which provides home care services including elderly and dementia care to people living in Leicester and Leicestershire, has a number of support worker and care assistant roles at its Waterside Court and Connaught House sites in Loughborough.
Elsewhere, Leicester city job centre is working with a cut flower specialist MM Flowers, which supplies clients in the UK and Europe.
It needs temporary workers to cover periods such as Christmas, Valentine’s and Mother’s Day.
Workplace provider HAP Solu tions Group is looking for temporary staff for Leicester City Football Club and Leicester Tigers.
The jobs news comes as the number of people in work across the UK rose by 0.9 per cent between October and November, up to 29.4 million, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The UK jobs market has also strengthened despite the end of the furlough scheme put in place last year – with the number of people in paid work jumping up by a record 257,000 last month.
The ONS said the national unemployment rate also fell from 4.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent in the three months to October, which is the lowest rate since spring 2020.
However, there are some fresh fears over the impact of Omicron on employment across the UK and in our region – with the new variant already starting to cause problems for the hospitality industry and seeing new restrictions put in place to control the new coronavirus strain.
But the DWP is hoping that more people will find long-term employment in the near future, including those at the Buy It Direct warehouse.
Julie Pritchard, DWP partnership manager for Leicestershire, said: “Due to the unprecedented ‘staffing squeeze’ they are having to come up with attractive new ways to bring in and retain the right candidates, offering a £500 attendance bonus for new starters – with half paid after eight weeks and the remainder after a second eight-week period.
“Over the last year our job centre has stepped up to support local people and businesses affected by the pandemic.
“Through Plan for Jobs we’ve established a temporary job centre at Pegasus House, Burleys Way, with extra work coaches offering job seekers individual, tailored help.
“The Kickstart scheme has been a great success.
“Good quality work has been provided for young people who would have struggled during the pandemic.
“In the new year we’ll be concentrating on recruiting for the key industries in care, hospitality and food sectors with jobs fairs being held in various sites.”