Smart Solutions Recruitment have offered their reaction to ONS employment statistics. Ieuan Rosser, managing director of Smart Solutions Recruitment, said: “The ONS figures came as a bit of a surprise to us at Smart as our figures show a more positive picture for the last quarter.
“We’ve seen a 12% increase in the number of temporary and flexible staff that we’ve placed in Wales across our core sectors of manufacturing and waste for the same period of April to June.
“Meanwhile, the number of completely new people starting employment with us at Smart in June this year is 380.
“We believe getting the unemployed and our candidates employment-ready is one of the key ways of keeping people in work.
“We are about to run a six-month Traineeship Programme, in partnership with our clients, especially for the long-term unemployed. Designed to extend our successful Pre-Employment Training Course, by combining it with work experience, it enables job seekers to be aware of what is expected of them when they return to work, helping to remove any barriers that could pose a problem and equip them with the basic skills to hit the ground running.
“Meanwhile, clients are using the course as a ‘try before buy’ process, selecting the best trainees for employment.
“Getting people work-ready helps to improve their chances of employment, as well as retention once employed, which consequently helps to keep the unemployment figures for Wales down.”