Skillsmatch working hard on Wharf's doorstep

People from all over the south-east, as well as many from abroad have taken up a majority of the specialist roles making it an ultra-competitive place to find work.

It has been the job of Skillsmatch, set up by Tower Hamlets Council and based at Heron Quay since 1997, to find innovative ways of getting people into work.

Sue Hinds, the employment and enterprise manager at the council, said: "Because of Canary Wharf this area is rich in jobs.

"However, the borough has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country."

Skillsmatch is a local labour scheme, similar to those based in each of the London boroughs.

The 30 staff, working alongside groups such as Tower Hamlets College which helps with training, get 600 job seekers into work across the borough annually.

But the challenge has been stiffened by the recession.

In the borough there are 9,000 registered as unemployed, with more than 2,800 of them under 25. However, the group remains confident.

Sue said: "We got the numbers down but it's gone up again in the last six months.

"But if you look at the growth coming to the area, such as JP Morgan arriving and Wood Wharf on the way, we're confident. There's also, out of 93,000 people, about 9,000 who will retire or leave each year so we've got the churn rate."

For Wood Wharf, Skillsmatch will have a recruitment and training construction centre on site enabling people to come direct to inquire about jobs on the £2billion development.

As well as the main office at Heron Quay, there is also a walk-in centre on The South Colonnade where a team of placement officers interview job seekers.

For outsiders it looks very much like a typical recruitment company, but the team falls somewhere between a job centre and a recruitment service.

Sue said: "We try to do the innovative bit Job Seekers Plus can't do because they've got so much work and they are tied by national programmes.

"We can go through the back door. Where people might not be able to get through a standard interview because of the competition, we can directly link people to the companies and give them experience."

This is done by putting the job seekers through training programmes to hone their skills, followed by a few weeks of placement.

For example, Credit Suisse, which has a large Wharf office, now permanently employs 31 graduates from the programme all on salaries of over £30,000. This happened after training schemes led to placements in back office finance and admin jobs.

Andre Burwood, who has worked at Skillsmatch since the beginning and is now manager of the centre, said: "A big part is about building relationships with employers.

"The Credit Suisse work took a while negotiating and building up a relationship but it was worth it. One person has even got a job working in Japan with the company.

"It's a pity the downturn came in because that has slowed things. But Credit Suisse has kept up the training which is good."

Work placements also offer what the team call a "try before you buy" service. If there is not a job at the end then at least the job seeker has had weeks of paid work and experience.

While the best outcome is a permanent job, Andre said it has proved to be a successful formula, which is bringing more people to them rather than the overworked job centre.

She said: "A main difference between our service and the job centre is this is not mandatory for job seekers. People come to us because we've helped their friends or family get into work."