15,000 people apply for just TEN vacancies on an engineering firm’s factory assembly line as scramble for jobs intensifies amid coronavirus crisis
- The company advertised 10 roles and were shocked to get 15,000 applications
- It comes amid a huge scramble for jobs following the coronavirus lockdown
- Office For National Statistics figures last week showed 649,000 have lost jobs
An engineering firm has been ‘overwhelmed’ after it received 15,000 applications for just 10 jobs on a new assembly line.
Lontra is opening the new line in Tyseley, Birmingham, later this year, assembling industrial machines from components manufactured across the UK.
Now, as the scramble for jobs intensifies amid coronavirus closures, the firm attracted 15,000 applicants for just 10 new roles.
Steve Smith-Howes, of recruitment agency Glue Resourcing, said: ‘This is an unprecedented volume of applications for a job posting even accounting for the recession triggered by Covid-19.
‘Although roles with fast-growth manufacturing firms such as Lontra are seen as highly attractive, reflecting the world class skills and ambitions of the local workforce, I’ve never known anything like it in 30 years of recruitment.’
Lontra is opening the new line in Tyseley, Birmingham and attracted 15,000 applications for just 10 roles
Lontra opened the UK’s first Greenfield high value manufacturing centre in Napton, Warwickshire last September
Steve Lindsey, Lontra’s chief executive, said: ‘A buoyant software sector is of real value to the UK, but it will be outliers such as ourselves that transform the UK’s manufacturing and construction sectors.
‘Manufacturing and exports create a strong bedrock for an economy, delivering productive and rewarding jobs that people are proud of. It is these jobs that we should be investing in as a country.’
It comes after 484 hopefuls applied for two £9-an-hour positions at the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, southwest London.
General manager Mick Dore posted an advert for the roles on Twitter and was staggered by the response.
He later wrote: ‘I don’t want to alarm anyone about the economy or anything, but I advertised two bar jobs at 4.30 on Thursday. We’ve had well over 400 applicants. Gulp.’
The news is reflected across the country, with bosses seeing a huge influx of applicants for entry-level jobs that would usually be unpopular.
It comes after Office For National Statistics figures last week showed workers fell by 74,000 last month, with 649,000 gone since lockdown was imposed in March.
As many as 484 hopefuls applied for two £9-an-hour positions at the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, southwest London
General manager Mick Dore (pictured) posted an advert for the roles on Twitter and was staggered by the response
The high street has faced the brunt of the hardship, with retail giants such as John Lewis, Clarks and Pizza Express announcing a wave of job cuts.
Reports also suggest that Marks & Spencer will axe hundreds of staff within days in the first wave of a cull that will hit thousands of workers.
Mr Dore, 53, said he would usually have expected about a dozen replies from younger jobseekers who have done less bar work.
He said on this occasion there were CVs sent from experienced show workers, ex-air stewards and restaurant managers who had lost their jobs amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Mr Dore ended up taking on six workers due to the high-quality of applicants.
The Fitzrovia Belle Pub and Hotel in central London had a similar experience, with 400 people applying for a handful of jobs.
General Manager Rob Fisher, 40, told the Sunday Times: ‘The quality of people looking for work right now is as good as it ever has been. Unfortunately it’s because of the situation people have found themselves in.’