ByRobyn Rosen, Robyn Rosen
Jewish Care is experiencing a massive upsurge in job applications as the recession forces more people back on to the employment market.
The health and social care charity claims a 1,600 per cent increase in responses from job seekers.
Recruitment drives normally attract 100 to 200 applications. This year, there have been 2,000 inquiries for 43 positions in the care sector.
Jewish Care director of human resources Diane Blausten has been overwhelmed by the interest. “We have been inundated with inquiries and have received some very high calibre applications,” she reported.
“We broadened our approach to advertising outside of local media which meant that lots more people saw the vacancies. There are also more people out there looking for jobs now. Lots of people I saw had been or were about to be made redundant. We hope that our care homes will benefit from the experience and skills that the applicants have to offer.”
Jewish Care has itself axed administrative and support jobs this year as part of a cost-cutting programme.
The situation has been different at Norwood, where director of corporate services Philip Bunt said: “Applications for support roles within our services are at about the same level as we have seen in previous years.
“Our recruitment of support workers over the past year has been at a low level as we have an exceptionally high staff retention rate.
“Another reason for our reduced recruitment activity for 2009 is that we are only filling vacant posts when absolutely necessary in order to protect the services that Norwood provides to support children, families and adults with learning disability and social disadvantages in our community.”
Mark Cunningham, head of services at the Manchester Jewish Federation, reported “fewer vacancies this year as a result of working hard on retention.
“I think the uncertainty that exists in the wider world has meant that fewer people have considered making a career change because of the potential risks.”
However, a recent vacancy for an assistant manager at one of the charity’s shops attracted 14 replies — a similar previous vacancy generated just two.