Thu, 19 Apr 2012

Transport operator National Express West Midlands has signed an employment partnership with Jobcentre Plus as it announced it would hire 1,700 in the next three years.

Of these, 125 jobs are new roles including additional route managers, and the rest of the posts, mostly for bus drivers, are due to attrition and retirement.

According to a spokesperson for the transport firm, speaking to Recruiter, it will work with Jobcentre Plus to “make sure we are as engaged with people from the point of [their] interest” in the job and ensure a “more open recruitment process”.

This includes going into colleges and “speak to people about what they can expect at interview stage” so as to ensure that the interview is not “the first point of contact” with the company.

It is also looking to attract more female and young drivers, with the spokesperson saying: “We feel that moving forward we’d like our workforce to better represent the community it serves”, and as such the company is “working with several agencies in the West Midlands specialising in getting women into work”.