Aberdeen City Council to host jobs fair for Stoneywood Mill workers

A redundancy support and jobs fair will be held at the Beach Ballroom next month in response to the Stoneywood Mill closure.

Aberdeen City Council’s ABZWorks team is hosting a jobs fair on October 10 after more than 300 people lost their jobs as a result of the papermill going into administration last week.

The event, at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom, follows a rapid response from the Partnership Action for Continuing Employment (Pace), which held an advice and support session yesterday.

A broad range of advice and support on topics including employability support, finance, welfare and benefits advice will be on offer.

The main focus of the event will be on jobs with employers from across a wide range of industries and sectors present.

Some will be offering the chance for interviews on the day and attendees are advised to bring copies of their CVs.

This comes after a special support event held at Altens Hotel yesterday was attended by workers, potential employers and agencies including Citizens Advice Bureau.

Councillor Christian Allard, convener of the capital programme committee, said redundancy can affect people in the same way as grieving, having a negative impact on mental and physical health.

He said: “It is important that we act quickly to support people affected by redundancy to move back into employment as quickly as possible to minimise these negative impacts, as well as to reduce the risk of skill loss and people moving down the labour line.

“The response from local employers and Pace partners has been fantastic and I am optimistic that the partnership will be able to support a significant number of the Arjowiggins staff back into employment.”

Rapid response to ‘unfortunate situation’

Pace is a Scottish Government response to redundancy situations, led by Skills Development Scotland.

Jennifer Noble, co-chairwoman for Grampian Pace, reassured the group is working with partners to support the papermill workers who have been made redundant.

She said: “The Pace Redundancy Support and Jobs Fair is one of a number of events and actions being delivered to help the Stoneywood Mill workforce.

“The work of the partnership is essential to providing the appropriate and adequate support to people facing redundancy and I welcome their involvement and rapid response to this unfortunate situation.”

The Redundancy Support and Jobs Fair is open to anyone who has been made redundant and is seeking advice about support available to them.

It will take place at the Beach Ballroom on Monday, October 10 from 10am until 2pm.

Entry is free and people can register online. Employers with vacancies to fill and interested in a stall can email abzworks@aberdeencity.gov.uk