Press Releases

January 24 2006

East Manchester jobs fair for over 50s huge success

The East Manchester jobs fair for the over 50s organised by Job Centre Plus and New East Manchester proved to be a huge success with nearly 500 job seekers attending. Over 100 full and part-time jobs were available on the day across a range of employment sectors. The event offered a mix of skilled and unskilled opportunities including call centre operatives, office administration, customer service, retail and catering assistants and jobs working with people.

The jobs fair attracted a range of leading companies and organisations including Marks and Spencer, Greater Manchester Police, The Renaissance Hotel, Fujitsu, Ticketmaster, GMPTE, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Sean McGonigle, New Deal for Communities Co-ordinator said: "We were pleased to host the first jobs fair for over 50s in East Manchester. The success of the event highlights the wealth of talented older people we have in our community who are keen to take advantage of new employment opportunities. More and more employers see age as a positive attribute when selecting employees. They are looking for enthusiastic people and appreciate the experience that age brings. Both employers and job seekers found the day very rewarding and for some it has offered the chance of a new career path that they may not have considered before."

Sally Bowden from the Renaissance Manchester Hotel added: "The 50+ event was one of the best job fairs the hotel has attended recently. The turn out was fantastic and I saw many possible candidates - we even have two interviews tomorrow! It was well organised and a very worthwhile day."

Anyone in East Manchester who wasn't able to attend but is still interested in finding out about employment opportunities for the over 50s should call the East Manchester Job Brokerage team on 0845 070 6364 or visit your local Job Centre Plus.