The Nine Elms on the South Bank project is creating thousands of new jobs.

Unemployment rates were reported to be 7.1 per cent nationally, with 4,983 people in Wandsworth reported to be claiming Job Seekers Allowance in December last year.

This is a 20 per cent drop since 2012 and now there are hopes unemployment levels will drop further with opportunities on the horizon across the borough.

Several incentives have been created by Wandsworth Council and further education colleges to help people in the area find a job in Nine Elms.

Alexandra Rucki takes a look at how people living in Wandsworth can land a job on the site.

TYPES OF JOBS

There will be 22,000 construction jobs up for grabs between now and 2022 and 25,000 permanent jobs when Nine Elms is complete.

This includes apprenticeships, traineeships and work placements all created to help people get on the career ladder.

About 25,000 permanent office jobs are expected to be created when the buildings are in operation.

Opportunities will be spread over the building programme as the site progresses.

The US Embassy alone will employ more than 800 American and British workers.

Councillor Ravi Govindia, leader of Wandsworth Council, said he is keen to retain construction jobs on the site in the form of facility manager placements.

The council and further education institutions are working together to provide training for all of the retail jobs cropping up on the site.

Coun Govindia said: "One of my key asks of the further education institutions in Wandsworth and Lambeth is they should support training, and...support a kind of retail academy training of the Wandsworth young people.

"The high end retail work will be coming to the new town centre of Battersea.

"It will require a different level of skill, they should find Wandsworth young people to be skilled in that particular area which will be a great boom to the local people in the community.

Already 237 construction and engineering apprenticeships have been secured, with the number expected to rise as high as 1,000 as more proposals come forward.

A spokeswoman from Berkeley said: “At our Riverlight development, we have to date created 16 apprenticeship opportunities on site. 

"This is part of an ambitious employment plan to create more than 45 apprenticeships in total.

"In addition to our apprenticeships scheme we plan to facilitate a series of approximately 300 site visits for school children, to inspire them about the varied and interesting career opportunities on a project like Riverlight.”

WORK MATCH & JOB FAIRS

Work Match is a new incentive set up by the council to help people find employment.

The Work Match team formed partnerships with developers to enable people who live in Wandsworth can find out about jobs first.

Participants are screened and offered pre-job training before being directed towards the types of jobs available to them.

Help is offered with writing CVs, interview skills as well as mentoring.

The service is only available to people living in the area who are out of work.

Already several job fairs have taken place giving candidates the opportunity to meet employers.

Training workshops, higher education colleges and employers have all attended previous events.

The service has secured jobs for 44 unemployed people so far, with 100 more opportunities becoming available this year.

The next is scheduled on March 17 at York Road Library, Lavender Road, Battersea, call Work Match team on 0208 871 5191 or email wandsworthworkmatch@wandsworth.gov.uk.

BUSINESSES - ORGANISATIONS SIGNED UP TO WORK MATCH

Asda
Astins Dry Lining
Base Roehampton
Business Launch Pad
Caremark
Citizens Advice Bureau
DC Leisure
Groundwork London Volunteering
Job Centre Plus
London Square
Natwest
University of Roehampton
South Thames College
St George
Thomas Pocklington Trust
Wandsworth BEST
Wandsworth Council HR
Wandsworth Council Benefits Service
Wandsworth Family Information Service
Wandsworth Plus Credit Union
Wandsworth Public Health
Wandsworth Work Match
Youth Groups

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