Much-needed job opportunities for residents of “cruelly let down” Olympic borough

Artist's impression of completed Olympic Park pic: EG Focus

Hackney residents wishing to take advantage of the thousands of jobs created by next summer’s Olympic and Paralympic games will get an opportunity to register their interest next week.

Jobs in sectors including security, hospitality, retail and customer service will be on offer to residents at promotional events taking place in all five Olympic boroughs – Greenwich, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Hackney – the first of which takes place at St John’s Church, E5, from 10am-5pm on September 28.

Residents can get advice on Olympic employment from organisations including Hackney Council’s On Site scheme, Jobcentre Plus and other 2012 employers and training providers offering Games-related “skills for employment” courses.

Hackney suffers from one of the poorest rates of employment in London and the UK as a whole, with youth unemployment a particular problem. Earlier this year, the number of people who were unemployed in Hackney reached an 11-year high, and the Olympic Development Authority were criticised for not employing enough people from the Olympic boroughs as they had promised. Hackney in particular had fewer workers than the four other host boroughs, prompting Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP Diane Abbott to say the borough had been “cruelly let down”.

Guy Nicholson, Cabinet Member for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: “This is a unique opportunity to become part of a team that will deliver the biggest event East London has ever seen. Although most of the jobs are temporary, lasting up to nine weeks, it will boost people’s job prospects to be able to say they were part of the 2012 Games.”

Twenty four residents have just been offered jobs with Olympic security film G4S. Former ambulance driver and Hackney resident, Stephen Yoxall, 57, has been working as a security officer on the Olympic Park for nearly two years after support from On Site and Job Centre Plus. He said: “I was very grateful for the chance to get back to work after two years unemployed. I’ve seen the Park change from a building site to nearly complete. My ambition after the Games is to go into corporate security.”

Visit hackney.gov.uk/2012-jobs or call On Site on 020 7275 7843 for more info.

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