The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Joined-up system to tackle jobless
Dundee City Council has hailed the efforts of its employability teams to counter job losses caused by Covid-19.
Last month the Centre for Cities’ annual study warned Dundee faces more challenges than any other Scottish city to recover from the pandemic.
It found the unemployment rate in the city needs to shrink by at least 4.1% if Dundee is to rebuild its economy.
A report by the Royal Bank of Scotland, published today, found private sector employment in Scotland declined last month. But the rate of job shedding was the slowest since February 2020.
The Discover Work Partnership in Dundee has found that while certain sectors have been hit hard, some sectors have required more staff.
These include cleaning, care, essential retail and takeaway/delivery jobs.
Mark Flynn, convener of the council’s city development committee, said a joined-up approach across different arms of the council was helping to tackle unemployment.
He said: “There is absolutely no question that parts of the economy are finding things challenging and unfortunately people in the city are losing their jobs, but the picture is not completely bleak.
“There are reasons to be optimistic, not only about the sectors that are currently recruiting but also in the amount of work that is being done by the council and its partners right now to prepare people and businesses to build back when this is over.
“For example the Fuel Well Dundee Programme launched less than a month ago, which goes beyond fuel poverty to signpost other support and services, has recommended 100 people to the employability team who might not normally have found themselves there.”
The council’s employability teams have helped two people a week into new jobs, a total of more than 100 between April and January.
The Discover Work Partnership includes the Department for Work and Pensions, Dundee City Council, Developing the Young Workforce, Dundee and Angus College, Fair Start Scotland (Remploy), Skills Development Scotland and representatives of the third sector.
It helps create matches between employers and job seekers and also uses that information to give people looking for work the right skills to get a job.
Mr Flynn added: “It amounts to a free recruitment service to employers which includes matching them with people looking for a job, help filtering applications/CVs, pre-screening candidates for interview and supporting the interview process itself.
“At the other side of the equation employability services also help people who want to find a job to brush up their CVs, develop skills that employers are looking for, boost their confidence and even get help with money advice,” he said.
As well as almost £1 million for employability services committed by local partners, the Scottish Government is backing initiatives in Dundee to the tune of £3.6m over the next two years.
The Royal Bank report found the Scottish private sector sunk deeper into a downturn in January due to lockdown measures.
However, firms recorded the strongest level of confidence for future trading since April 2014.
Companies are optimistic about the success of the vaccine roll-out and looser restrictions.