Washington manufacturer offers fresh opportunities for young people

Four young people have secured employment at a regional manufacturer with Gem Training.

Gem Training is delivering pre-employment training as part of its partnership with Profound Group through the Adult Education Budget.

The pre-employment training programme provided by Gem is bespoke to business requirements. As a result of teaming up with business leaders, the firm has been preparing people for work in engaging four young people in employment at regional manufacturer, Snorkel Europe Ltd.

They are Paul Reveley, Andrew Lowery, Luke MacDonald and Dean Wilkinson who are all from the Washington area.

The Peterlee-based training provider continues to support Washington firm Snorkel Europe Ltd, who manufacture a comprehensive range of aerial lifts, with its recruitment and training needs.

As part of a long-term relationship with Snorkel, Gem Training is assisting the organisation by pre-training potential employees with skills essential for the company’s production needs.

The most recent training programme completed in April has resulted in four people gaining employment at Snorkel, with a further four at second stage interview.

Tanya English is a lead trainer with Gem Training. She said: “As part of our partnership with Snorkel, we have been helping the company identify what their recruitment needs are.

“From there we have been identifying candidates from our talent pool, who we think have the potential however not necessarily the skills that SNORKEL are looking for.

“So, our training team have been putting them through our pre-employment training course to prepare them for the world of work, and this has resulted in four people securing jobs with the organisation.

“A further four are currently at the second interview stage which is fantastic.”

The training has involved several different elements, including an on-site lean manufacturing course, health and safety training, lean organisation management techniques, Snorkel tool training and interview preparation.

Tanya added: “Pre-employment training is proving particularly popular at the moment, as employment generally is high, however companies often don’t have access to the right people.

“And what we’re facilitating is that ability to help local job seekers secure employment that otherwise they might struggle with; however, with our ongoing support and pre-employment training, we can equip them with the right skills that employers like Snorkel are looking for.”

Jane Simpson, HR manager at Snorkel, is hopeful that the training programme will result in a pool of resource, and was keen to point out that Snorkel’s plan for growth cannot be held back by time spent sourcing, screening and inducting new production staff.

She said that the pre-employment training programme was invaluable in terms of covering the business health and safety and HR induction procedures.

Jane concluded: “We want people who want to be here and the training programme provided by Gem is inviting people who have an interest in working at Snorkel to come and see if we fit them and of course whether they are a suitable fit for our needs.

“There is an element of on the job training for all new employees at Snorkel and this time commitment cannot be wasted. We aim to recruit and retain highly motivated, competent people and this pre-employment training program sets the scene in terms of Snorkels expectations and what potential employees can expect from Snorkel.”