COI shortlists two for 4m job seekers’ helpline drive

The Central Office of Information has shortlisted two roster agencies to pitch for a 4m account to promote a telephone hotline aimed at helping job seekers find work.

The Government information body refuses to say which agencies are pitching for the Department for Education & Employment account, though it is believed St Luke’s and DMB&B are involved.

The national Jobs Hotline will be launched in January and will run until March. It aims to find work for 30,000 job seekers. Callers ring the hotline and their call is connected to Employment Service local teams, which are being set up to run the new service. Advisers have access to a database with details of over 300,000 UK vacancies. The adviser can help to set up job interviews.

The initiative was unveiled last month by Education & Employment Secretary David Blunkett. It follows a trial of three “Jobcentre Direct” pilot schemes, which have been run this year offering out-of-hours telephone advice to job seekers.