MORE than 600 work coaches have been hired in Jobcentres across Greater Manchester to help those who are unemployed.

A huge recruitment drive has seen 10,000 people being employed as work coaches across the country - 611 of these are in the city-region.

These roles will ensure that jobseekers will have more personalised support available to them to help them find jobs, look at their skill set or switch jobs.

The government aims to have 13,500 new work coaches by the end of March.

Minister for Employment, Mims Davies said:“This is a hugely significant milestone in our recruitment drive.

"We have now recruited 10,000 new Work Coaches, 611 of which are in Greater Manchester.

“They will form the backbone of our bold and ambitious Plan for Jobs, with their expertise and guidance crucial in supporting jobseekers in Greater Manchester in retraining, upskilling or re-entering the workplace, as we build back better from the pandemic.”

The work coaches help arrange structured support including the Kickstart scheme aimed at those aged 16-24 on universal credit and the Job Entry Targeted Support scheme which targets those out of work for three months.