Shropshire Star

Thousands of roles available to be part of Commonwealth Games

A recruitment drive has started to urge people to take up thousands of Commonwealth Games job opportunities.

Published
Andy Street joined other members of Birmingham 2022 in launching the recruitment drive for the games

The drive, which launched on Thursday, aims to encourage people to register their interest in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of the biggest event ever to take place in the West Midlands.

More than 20,000 roles are available with contractors, with an additional 600 job opportunities during the Games within the Birmingham 2022 organising committee itself.

A wide range of jobs are available, lasting from three months to three weeks, with roles in security, stewarding, catering, cleaning, retail, and logistics, plus many more opportunities to help the Games run smoothly.

Birmingham 2022 is working with the Jobs and Skills Academy, launched by the West Midlands Combined Authority to provide training for and to improve the skills of local people for these roles.

The Jobs and Skills Academy is investing £5 million to train unemployed residents to take advantage of Games-related roles and have already, over the last 12 months, trained over 4,000 unemployed people to help build the talent pool in the workforce.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will see around 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories compete in 19 sports and eight para-sports across 14 competition venues from July 28 to August 8.

Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, said: "The Commonwealth Games was always about so much more than medals and athletes, and it is this legacy of jobs and improved opportunities that made me so determined to help land this global event for our region.

"It is therefore brilliant to see that thousands of opportunities are on offer through the Games, especially as these roles have become even more critical given the pandemic has left many people out of work and others worried about their future.

"To support this, the WMCA is making more than £5m available through our Jobs and Skills Academy to help anyone who is interested in taking on a role during the Commonwealth Games.

"Not only will this training help people secure roles during the Games, but the skills they learn will also set them up for future careers, ensuring we do provide a proper lasting legacy for people across the West Midlands."

Applicants must be aged 18 or above by April 1 and should register their interest at birmingham2022.com/jobs to find out more.