Third of job vacancies are going unfilled

More than a third of job vacancies in Cannock have been advertised for up to a month without being filled, latest figures show.

News of jobs being left unfilled comes despite four per cent of the workforce in the district being unemployed.

The latest figures for the end of March from the Department for Work and Pensions show 504 jobs are currently being advertised in Cannock Chase district – with 186 of them having been up for grabs for up to a month.

The bulk of these jobs are for transport and mobile machine drivers, processing jobs, and personal service occupations such as hairdressers or nannies.

Administration roles have also been left vacant. Figures also showed that four per cent of jobs at Cannock's job centre have been advertised for almost two months without being filled.

A further two construction jobs remained unfilled after being advertised for more than two years – figures which helped put Cannock Chase as the seventh worst in the UK for vacancies lasting more than 24 months.

George Adamson, leader of Cannock Chase District Council, said: "We need to get people trained up for these jobs.

"Maybe people have not got the relevant skills to fill the vacancies.

"If there are 500 job vacancies it is a lot of a concern but we are trying to bring more employment into the area."