Recruiting for the Island

The Isle of Wight may have been branded as an unemployment black spot since the recession hit in 2008 and this was certainly at some stages true with redundancies being made on a weekly basis, either from companies downsizing, relocating their business across the water or at worst having to close their doors completely. The tide is now on the turn, with many local firms reporting their busiest year to date in 2013 and as a result employment is on the rise…

Living on an Island has always had its disadvantages as well as advantages but most of its residents wouldn’t have it any other way and the Isle of Wight continues to tempt people to relocate, even without employment secured prior to moving, WP Recruitment, an independent agency, which was initially set up as a secretarial service, has been established for over 25 years and has staff with a combined knowledge of 50 years within the recruitment sector. They pride themselves on their local knowledge and have weathered several recessions by diversifying to meet demand and now provides all industries with all levels of staff and reported record numbers of temporary workers supplied in 2013, with this year set to exceed those figures once again.

Island commerce has always been affected by the seasons, with tourism being a large industry sector, especially more recently as people are spending their holidays closer to home. This, in addition, has a knock on effect on the supply and service industries so there is naturally more employment from March until October, to cater for the increased population, who visit our shores for our sandy beaches, numerous festivals and sporting events, including sailing for which the Island has become famous. In turn, this has led, through the development of technologies, to the Isle of Wight being a year-round hub for companies in composites manufacturing, not only in the marine industry but also in wind, automotive and aerospace sectors, producing some of the most innovative products in UK and possibly the world. It is not only the composite sector we should be proud of as the Island is lucky to have both expanding, state of the art electronics and pioneering, environmental equipment manufacturers, the importance of the latter becoming increasingly more apparent as the Isle of Wight’s inhabitants recognise the worth of becoming ‘green’ to preserve the beauty of where we are fortunate to live. The upturn in the economic climate has also seen the construction industry, which took the first fall in 2008, get back on its feet again.

Another prominent value of the Island is that wherever possible we stay “local”. This is evident not only by the increase in farm shops and the use of home-grown produce in restaurants but also in the way that Island businesses are working alongside our educational establishments, investing in the futures of prospective employees. Where as in recent times school leavers and university graduates would seek employment on the mainland, there are now more opportunities for apprenticeships, via local training providers and graduate schemes, with some of the larger organisations, which is assisting us in retaining talent and tailor-making skills to meet the requirements of the community.

Unfortunately, as is the nature of any popular destination, there will always be more people seeking work than Mos available. However, this is to the advantage of the employer, as they usually have a larger selection of people to choose from; evidence of this has been our largest ever register of candidates. The benefits of living in a place such as this can assist in drawing those who have specific, sought after experience to work here, even though the travelling costs to commute can be high and unfortunately average salaries on the Isle of Wight have always been lower than those elsewhere on the south coast.

Recruiting for the Island is not about the hard sell reputed by agencies on the mainland, it is working in partnership with the business community and developing relationships (aided by organisations such as the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce) and supporting the entire process; assisting larger organisations through change and providing general HR functions for smaller businesses. At the same time knowing our candidates, providing advice to help them to achieve their goals, identifying their transferrable skills and matching them to the right company in the right role, our aim is always to exceed the expectations of all our stakeholders.

Kate Thomas MIRP Assoc CIPD, Recruitment Manager, WP Recruitment Ltd