Department for Work and Pensions
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Jobcentre Plus is putting Europe’s largest jobs database in to people’s pockets with the launch of the first UK Government Jobcentre app.
DWP/041/10
The app is another tool for people looking for work, making
it easier to search by location, save preferences and get
information about vacancies, said Employment Minister Jim Knight.
Almost 1m people search for work through Jobcentre Plus every working day. Last month alone 60,000 people accessed the website from their mobile phones.
The app makes it easier for people to find jobs relevant to them, jobseekers will be able to enter their location, or select key areas where they are looking for work and see exactly where vacancies are with Google maps. Within a year, jobseekers will be able to use GPS to spot jobs around them, whether from home or on the move. The app will also be developed to automatically notify people of new vacancies matching their preferences.
The app is available to anyone who uses an iPhone, iPod touch or Google phones.
In December, Jim Knight set out his vision for Jobcentres across the country, and developing online tools was a key part of delivering this increasingly personalised service.
Speaking at the National Digital Inclusion Conference, Mr Knight also announced a pilot to give Jobcentre Plus customers access to PCs. Initially around 200 PCs will be spread across approximately 50 jobcentres. There will be free help for customers who have never been online, provided by Jobcentre Plus staff and partners such as UK Online and equivalent organisations in Wales and Scotland. Customers will be helped to set up an email account, build an online CV and supported to search for and apply for jobs online.
Already 13 per cent, some 350,000 vacancies advertised through Jobcentre Plus each year only accept electronic applications – meaning if people are not online they are missing out.
Jim Knight said:
“In this digital age being online is not a luxury, it is a basic right. Evidence shows that access to the internet improves exam grades, earning potential and can save up to £600 on family bills.
“As Smarter Government Minister responsible for the digital transformation of public services I am committed to getting people online, improving the customer experience and saving money through a better, more efficient use of technology.
“Giving people access to the internet in jobcentres and expanding the tools available through the introduction of the app are just two elements of this work.”
The move is part of a Government wide campaign to get more people online by promoting the benefits such as saving money, paying bills and looking for work.
The Government is committed to getting 60 per cent of the 10m people who have never used the internet online by 2012. The Smarter Government white paper, published last year, set out the potential for public services to be delivered more efficiently.
Key facts/ stats:
- The app is available for both iPhones, iPod touch and also to
Google Android enabled phones. Any internet enable phone can
access Jobcentre Plus’s vacancies through the Directgov
website.
- The app is free to download
- Last month we had
over 60,000 visits to the jobsearch site by people using a browser
on an iPhone – these people will now be able to download the app
and have direct access to our vacancies
- The JCP database is
the largest in the UK – with over 10,000 new vacancies every
working day. Over 30% of employers in the UK use Jobcentre Plus to
advertise their jobs
- The app can be used by jobseekers in
England, Wales and Scotland
- To download the app go to:
iTunes- http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/jobcentreplus/id357812200?mt=8
Android - http://market.android.com/search?q=pname:com.directgov.jcp
- Jobcentre Plus has responded well to the challenges
of the recession increasing the number of frontline staff by
16,000 to continue to deliver its services to customers,
processing benefits on time, getting three quarters of jobseekers
back into work within six months throughout the downturn and
working tirelessly to increase the provision available to people
who have become unemployed.
Contacts:
Department Work and Pensions
Phone: 020 3267 5144
NDS.DWP@coi.gsi.gov.uk
