Focus of Crieff’s vacancies and jobs ‘challenge’
‘Honest conversation’ is suggested
Local applications for vacancies continue to be at a disappointingly low level
Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels
Questions have been asked as to why parts of Crieff have unemployment issues yet one of the town’s largest employers has struggled to fill vacancies.
The issues were brought to the fore at a recent meeting of the region’s Community Planning Partnership Board after having been raised during a recent workshop.
The workshop was set up to explore the biggest socio-economic challenges facing an area described in a report discussed at the meeting as ‘South Crieff’, examine what is driving those challenges and what solutions there are.
The workshop was held last year and was undertaken virtually as a result of Covid-19 pandemic safety measures.
In addition to Crieff, a similar exercise was undertaken in Coupar Angus – although the workshop in the east Perthshire town was carried out in person.
Five main themes were identified in relation to both towns.
These were listed as “poverty/ employment, mental and physical wellbeing, community assets/buildings, access to support and community cohesion” in the report discussed by board members.
Poverty and unemployment, as well as low pay, were found to be two of the main socio-economic issues affecting the ‘South Crieff’ area.
Reporting to the board at the February 18 meeting, a council officer said: “In South Crieff the Hydro has 40 or 50 vacancies and they are struggling to recruit people. Yet off the main High Street we have pockets of unemployment. Is there a skills mismatch? Are there barriers to employability there? Perhaps access
to childcare? Or is it working hours, conditions, etc?”
Following the presentation, Cllr Murray Lyle said: “From the other perspective I have the owner of Crieff Hydro saying the locals don’t want to work. Now the challenge there is in some cases the locals don’t see any benefit in work – if you like – because of the standard of living they would maintain but equally I think there is a communication issue there.
“We could maybe help an exchange between Crieff Hydro and some of the locals so they could understand the benefits of employment going forward.”
The Perth and Kinross Council leader, a Conservative elected member for the Strathallan ward, said he had received complaints “on more than one occasion” from Crieff Hydro saying they had “great difficulty employing local people” and a “significant” amount of their workforce comes from outside Crieff and outwith the area entirely.
Cllr Lyle said this was something PKC could “try to address”.
A spokesperson for Crieff Hydro Family of Hotels said: “Local applicants for vacancies continue to be at a disappointingly low level.
“We continue to work with local schools, colleges and all agencies to help make hospitality a career of choice.
“Having said that, we do have a significant number of team members who live and work locally and there are many great opportunities in hotel operations and in supporting our wider business across the country in areas such as sales, HR and finance.”
Later in the discussion, the council officer also stressed the importance of working with local community groups in Crieff – particularly those involved with the recently-published community action plan.
He said the five- year document should be “used as a vehicle” to have an “honest conversation” in relation to the issues affecting the area.
The area referred to as ‘South Crieff’ was not defined during the course of the discussion.