EE creates jobs boost for South Wales
- Up to 200 roles in customer services and sales at award winning centre in Merthyr Tydfil
- 300 jobs in customer services to be created across the UK
- New roles reinforce EE's commitment to boost customer service levels
EE, the UK's most advanced digital communications company, has today delivered welcome news for job-seekers in Merthyr Tydfil by announcing the creation of up to 200 new jobs for the community.
The jobs drive reinforces EE's position as the largest single employer in the town and provides a welcome economic boost to the area and young job-seekers in particular. The latest ONS figures highlight that almost 47,000 16 – 24 years old in Wales are affected by unemployment.
Francoise Clemes, EE's Chief of Customer Service, said: “Merthyr Tydfil is already home to one of our award winning UK customer centres and today's announcement is great news for both job seekers and our customers.
As well as providing a much-needed jobs boost for an area which has been badly hit by the downturn, the increase in employees at our customer centres reinforces our commitment to providing the best service possible to all EE customers.”
Dai Havard, MP for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, added: "EE is offering encouraging employment news for Merthyr Tydfil and the surrounding area. This increased investment by EE in its state of the art technology support centre in Merthyr Tydfil is a vote of confidence in our local community and sustainable employment. EE knows that Merthyr Tydfil is a place of opportunity and I am pleased to work with them to build our digital economy. 15 more Apprenticeships recruited through our renewed local college, on top of 25 already due to start, is also great news."
Today's recruitment drive will deliver a mix of full-time and part-time roles in both customer service and sales. Additionally a further group of 15 apprentices will be employed by November to join the 25 already starting in the coming weeks. All apprentices are being recruited via the College Merthyr Tydfil.
Huw Lewis, member of the National Assembly for Wales and Minister for Education said: "I was pleased to visit the EE customer centre here in Merthyr Tydfil recently and to meet with 12 of the new apprentices who were all incredibly enthusiastic about working for the company.
"Today’s announcement of additional jobs is a welcome boost for Merthyr Tydfil and a sign of the confidence EE rightly has in its Merthyr workforce."
The recruitment campaign for the 300 customer service and sales roles begins this month. As well as the 200 roles in South Wales, new roles are also being created in the North East of England where approximately 100 additional opportunities will be available across the Darlington and North Tyneside centres. EE expects successful applicants to be helping customers within weeks.
For more information, please visit http://jobs.ee.co.uk
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Notes to Editors
The ONS Labour Market Statistics, August 2013, show that nationally, for the April to June 2013 period:
- There were 3.58 million 16 to 24 year olds in employment, down 92,000 from January to March 2013.
- There were 2.67 million economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds (74% of whom were in full-time education), up 63,000 from January to March 2013.
- The unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year olds was 21.4% for April to June 2013, up 0.7 percentage points from January to March 2013
The ONS Regional Labour Market Statistics for the same period show that:
- The employment rate was highest in the South East (75.8%) and lowest in the North East (66.5%)
- The unemployment rate was highest in the UK in the North East (10.3%)
- The highest unemployment rate in Great Britain was in Blaenau Gwent, just a short distance from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, at 15.2%
The ONS interactive map for Claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance shows that:
- Compared to the national average, Merthyr Tydfil has consistently seen a higher average number of Jobseeker’s Allowance Claimants over the last five years
- Compared to the national average, the North East has consistently seen a higher average number of Jobseeker’s Allowance Claimants over the last five years
For more information, please contact the EE press team on:
0845 373 7070
About EE
EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market.
With more than 15,000 employees and 600 retail stores, EE serves more than 27 million customers on EE, Orange and T-Mobile mobile and broadband plans.
EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, having introduced the UK's first and only superfast 4G mobile service in 2012. In July 2013 EE's 4G coverage reached nearly 60% of the UK population, with plans to cover 98% of the population by 2014. 2G and 3G coverage currently reaches more than 99% of the population. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 54% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.
EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®, and Best Network for Business at the 2013 Mobile Industry awards.
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