A new service has been created to help people who have lost work during the the coronavirus outbreak to get back into employment.
The Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been designed to help businesses retain staff during the pandemic by paying 80 percent of an employee’s salary.
However, there are redundancies currently being made by businesses across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
At the same time, large gaps in the labour market are appearing in sectors vital to the ongoing fight against the virus.
D2N2, the local enterprise partnership for Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, is working with partner organisations to help get people back into jobs where they are most needed.
The Redeployment Triage Service will be led by Futures, the National Careers Service provider for the East Midlands, to match people recently made redundant with new work in sectors experiencing a surge in employment demand such as food retail, care, and distribution.
The service will also work with employers needing to make redundancies to ensure a smooth transition for employees into new roles.
D2N2 head of people and skills, Rachel Quinn, said: “Traditionally responses to redundancy situations have been coordinated by the DWP.
"However, they are currently experiencing unprecedented volumes of new customer registrations and are diverting their staffing resources to claims processing and payments.
“In negotiation with our partners, we have identified capacity within the National Careers Service to provide a valuable rapid response triage service which will match redundancy situations to redeployment where possible and create additional support through employment services where further employability or skills help is required.”
Peter Brammall CEO of The Futures Group, said: “Futures has longstanding expertise in helping employers to manage their workforce requirements through our National Careers Service programmes, advising and guiding people through redeployment and into new jobs.
“We're pleased to be part of a strong rapid response partnership with D2N2, DWP, and Local Authority colleagues which will pay dividends over the coming weeks in helping to maximise employment opportunities for our residents and employers.”
As part of its role, the Redeployment Triage Service is also looking to make contact with any business currently in need of labour as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak.
To read more about the Triage Service or to inform the service about a recruiting need, go to the www.D2N2lep.org/TriageService.
