Council gives job seekers a career boost with paid work placements

22 July 2024

Job seekers and those wanting to gain new skills were recently invited to apply for a range of paid work placements with the council.

One of the successful candidates, Kyle, from Newtown, has joined the council's Waste Awareness and Enforcement team for the six-month opportunity. Kyle had previously worked on the recycling lorries as a temporary crew member during the covid pandemic before heading abroad on a backpacking adventure around New Zealand.

Having now returned home and looking to kick-start his career, Kyle has got stuck into his new role as a Waste Awareness Assistant, getting out and about in the community knocking on doors, leafleting and stickering bins and encouraging everyone to recycle more. In his spare time Kyle runs marathons so has no problem walking miles every day to deliver recycling messages to the people of Powys.

Cllr Jake Berriman, Powys County Council's Cabinet Member with responsibility for HR, said: "It's really positive to see people in Powys being given an opportunity to earn whilst they learn and gain skills on the job by helping to deliver frontline services for the council. 

We had a huge amount of interest in the paid work placement opportunities and have recruited nine excellent individuals to the roles. We hope that the experience enables them to progress their career and maybe even apply for a full-time job with the council in the future."

Cllr Jackie Charlton, Powys County Council's Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys, added "I'm really delighted to see we are helping job seekers remain in Powys by offering these work placement opportunities alongside experienced professionals. Having an extra pair of hands in our busy Waste Awareness and Enforcement team is great, especially as we focus our efforts on trying to reach the Welsh Government statutory recycling target of 70%."

Powys County Council secured money from the Shared Prosperity Fund (UK Government) to offer these placements.