Fair Chance Jobs Portal is up and running

"Warwickshire County Council is committed to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth which offers good quality jobs and future skills for all of our residents. Where there are barriers to residents gaining skills and employment, we want to address them."

A new jobs website has been created to help Warwickshire-based employers fill roles created to appeal to people facing barriers into employment.

The Fair Chance Jobs Portal has been launched by Warwickshire County Council’s Warwickshire Skills Hub as part of their Fair Chance Employment Programme.

The programme was initially launched in November 2021 to help firms to become more inclusive when recruiting and creating job roles, while offering individuals training support to become more employable.

More than 50 businesses have committed to the programme so far, with more than 25 of those employers already listing jobs on the portal, which currently has around 30 job vacancies listed.

The jobs are targeted at a range of individuals such as foreign nationals who are part of a resettlement programme, individuals with a special educational need or disability, ex-armed forces personnel and their families, young people not in education, employment or training; those leaving care, young carers, and over 50s currently seeking employment.

Advertised vacancies range from cleaning through to project co-ordination and customer service, and can be viewed at fairchancejobs.warwickshire.gov.uk

Fay Winterburn, Lead Commissioner for Employability and Skills at Warwickshire Skills Hub, said: “Helping businesses to address skills shortages while breaking down long-term employability barriers for individuals are two key issues that the Fair Chance Employment Programme is trying to address, and the new jobs portal is a crucial next step in helping us to make this a reality.

“Individuals who face barriers to traditional recruitment methods are an untapped talent pool, and we have been working closely with businesses to explore ways that they can make both their recruitment processes – and the jobs themselves – more accessible, and with room for progression.

“This includes softening the traditional interview approach by incorporating work trials as part of the interview process, so that candidates are being asked questions as they work, whilst also being offered flexible working hours.

“When a candidate is appointed to a role at a Fair Chance Employment Programme employer, they will also have a dedicated mentor within the business to help them settle into their role.”

Cllr Martin Watson, Portfolio Holder for Economy & Place at Warwickshire County Council, added: "Warwickshire County Council is committed to promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth which offers good quality jobs and future skills for all of our residents. Where there are barriers to residents gaining skills and employment, we want to address them.

 "This programme is showing excellent signs of making progress towards that goal already with good engagement from both employers and jobseekers."

For more information about the Fair Chance Jobs Portal, and to view the latest vacancies, please visit fairchancejobs.warwickshire.gov.uk