Recruits queue up for call centre jobs (From Western Telegraph)

Recruits queue up for call centre jobs

There is no shortage of potential recruits for the new jobs up for grabs at the Pembroke Dock call centre - with applicants outnumbering the available vacancies by more than two to one.

Jobcentre Plus, an arm of the Department of Works and Pensions, is creating 250 new jobs at the site. So far it has received 550 applications and interviews are already under way.

Pam Sutton, west Wales district manager for Jobcentre Plus, admitted that the recruitment process was progressing well.

Seven hundred application forms had been issued, she said. "Candidates who succesfully completed tests, including literacy and numeracy, have now been called for an interview and this stage will run until July 24th.''

The jobs are regarded as 'safe' and long term because they are being created by a Government department. The new recruits will handle calls about jobs and benefit claims. The first jobs will be created in October and all 250 seats will be filled by March. It is more than a year since ITV Digital pull the plug on 1,045 jobs. The area has not recovered from this huge jobs blow, but the future is now looking brighter.

Friday-Ad is also creating more than 200 jobs at the Cleddau Call Centre. The company has had a base in the county for two years and its 89 staff will be joined by another 11 part-time and 112 full-time staff at Pembroke Dock.

Trillium Land Security has bought the Cleddau Call Centre on behalf of the Department of Works and Pensions and the signing of the contracts is currently at a 'commercial-in-confidence' stage.

But this is not delaying plans for refurbishing the site which, said Pam Sutton, continue to be developed.

Not everyone is happy with the staff recruitment process for the Jobcentre Plus vacancies.

One former ITV Digital worker claims he was turned down for an interview even though he had experience in call centre customer service, sales and management.

"All the staff who have been made redundant from the call centre should have had an edge over the others,'' said the ex-worker who asked not to be named.

But a spokesman for Jobcentre Plus pointed out that the selection tests, which included numeracy and literacy, were at a higher level than those set by other employers.