As part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs initiative, a program run by ScreenSkills in partnership with Pinewood and Buckinghamshire and Enterprise M3 LEPs (local enterprise partnerships) could see up to 1000 employees previously working at Heathrow airport transferring their knowledge of supply chains, accounts, logistics, retail, admin, carpentry, construction, digital and aviation into the movie business. Those identified and interested will then apply for online training events, and if successful shadow placements at Pinewood Studios.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey said: “This is a rare opportunity to join a world leading sector that has vacancies to fill in roles traditionally associated with Hollywood, and we are encouraging those who are interested to get in touch with their local jobcentre.
“Keeping people connected to the jobs market and transferring their skills is a key priority as we build back better – so it’s great to see our jobcentres working with local organisations to help jobseekers switch sectors.”
Andrew M. Smith, Chair of Buckinghamshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Corporate Affairs Director at Pinewood Studios, said: “We are delighted to be backing this exciting initiative to support those affected by local job losses in the aviation sector. This new initiative will provide the opportunity to support many of those highly skilled workers to transfer their skills to our world-class screen industries based at Pinewood Studios and across this rapidly growing sector of the economy here in Buckinghamshire.”
Dave Axam, Chair of Enterprise M3 LEP said: “This is a great project which will identify transferable skills and provide people with the opportunity to potentially gain experience within a very exciting industry. The EM3 Recovery and Renewal Action Plan has identified this type of project as an important stepping stone for people who have been affected by the impact of Covid-19 and are looking for a new career.”
