Home » About Us » Sheffield Homes News » September & October 2007 » Opportunities for long term unemployed
Sheffield Homes to provide opportunities for long term unemployed via new scheme
Housing Management organisation Sheffield Homes has become the first locally based company to enter into a unique partnership with JobCentre Plus to provide job opportunities for long term unemployed people and hard to reach communities.
The Arms Length Management Organisation, which manages over 40,000 council homes on behalf of Sheffield City Council, joins national companies such as Tesco, Marks and Spencer and B&Q, all of whom have a similar pledge.
Sheffield Homes have signed a unique agreement with JobCentre Plus to help people who have been long term unemployed or claiming benefits back into a career with real prospects.
Via the partnership arrangement with JobCentre Plus, Sheffield Homes has agreed a number of specific measures that they will take to help support people back into work. This includes offering bespoke pre-employment training courses tailored to a variety of jobs within Sheffield Homes leading to a guaranteed interview and considering ways for people with disabilities to access jobs within the organisation. Sheffield Homes will also assess its recruitment processes to ensure that they are inclusive.
Sheffield Homes has recently expanded its popular Neighbourhood Wardens scheme citywide and has recruited several of the new wardens via the scheme. There are a variety of careers available at Sheffield Homes including neighbourhood wardens, administration, customer services, estate services, tenancy management and housing management. Sheffield Homes actively encourages employees to gain qualifications enabling them to further their career in housing.
Peter Morton, Chief Executive of Sheffield Homes said; “At Sheffield Homes we try to benefit the communities we serve and try to make them better places to live and work. Its really important for us to offer jobs with long term prospects to local people, particularly those who may find it difficult to enter the job market. We have had some excellent members of staff join recently via this route and I look forward to many more”.
Sue Venton, District Manager for South Yorkshire JobCentre Plus said; “We are delighted that Sheffield Homes have entered into a Local Employment Partnership with JobCentre Plus, becoming the largest locally based organisation in Sheffield to do so. This offers tremendous implications for allowing our disadvantaged customers to enjoy the benefits of work by offering guaranteed opportunities and training”.