450 NEW JOBS AT

Digger giant launches recruitment drive as it bounces back from Covid

DIGGER giant JCB has today launched a recruitment drive for 450 more shopfloor workers as it bounces back from the coronavirus slump.

The company – which has its world HQ in Rocester, above – is taking on the extra agency staff at its factories in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham as demand for construction equipment continues to soar.

Bosses are also planning to give 400 agency workers with more than one year’s service permanent contracts later this year.

These include assemblers, welders, fabricators and machinists.

The latest jobs boost comes just weeks after JCB confirmed it was hiring more than 400 agency employees and giving permanent contracts to 300-plus existing agency staff from April 1.

It means the firm – known for responding quickly to changing market conditions – will have created 850 jobs so far this year.

Chief operating officer

Mark Turner, right, said: “The rebound following the Covid-19 pandemic continues to gather pace and even in the space of a month since we started recruiting, we now need a further 450 shop floor employees.

“The creation of a total of 850 jobs this year is very good news for our business and for the areas where we operate. It’s also great news that this year we will give permanent JCB contracts to more than 700 agency employees, starting this month.” The market for construction equipment has bounced back sharply after the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in spring last year, which halted production at JCB factories around the world.

In March 2020, JCB’S orders disappeared overnight when the pandemic took hold.

While no shop floor jobs were lost, many staff positions were impacted.

It took more than six months for the business to recover to production levels last seen in March 2020. Forecasts predict a continued solid recovery, with strong demand from mainland Europe and North America.