Unsuitable Applicants 'Flood' SMEs

It has been claimed this week that Northern Ireland's smaller businesses are being swamped with unsuitable - but desperate - candidates for jobs.

Claming this is putting extra strain on already stretched resources, the Federation of Small Businesses said that small and medium sized companies (SMEs) that might normally receive five to 10 applications for an advertised vacancy can now expect to get as many as 100 - and all have to be treated equally to keep inside tight equality legislation.

Noting that the increase in applications is a direct result of worsening unemployment in the province, the FSB indicated that many small firms are struggling with the deluge of applications from desperate job seekers.

Larger employers are also being targeted by a rising number of applicants.

Supermarket giant Tesco said it recently received 1,500 applications for just 92 jobs for its newly expanded Extra store in Knocknagoney, and similarly received almost 2,000 applications for 85 jobs at its Carrickfergus store.

Asda said that since August last year it has had over 9,000 applications from eager job hunters for just 81 roles.

See: Tesco Vacancies Oversubscribed

(BMcC/GK)