“Crossrail will connect central London City, Canary Wharf, the West End and Heathrow Airport to areas east and west of the capital. It will bring 1.5 million people within a 60-minute commute of the city. Employment growth is expected to remain concentrated in central London with close to 30 per cent of London's workforce concentrated in just 2 per cent of its geographical area. This is the 'central activity zone', covering broadly the West End, the City and Canary Wharf. It is projected that by 2025, over 850,000 people will commute to Greater London every day - an increase of 100,000 people compared with present figures.”
When will work start?
Preliminary work commenced during 2009 and the main construction will start in 2010. The first trains are due to run in 2017. However, Crossrail is part of the review of Government financing and there are reports of the timescale slipping to 2018 to enable £1bn to be saved from the current £15.9bn projected cost (Independent, 29 August 2010).
What jobs will there be?
According to a recent presentation by Crossrail, jobs will include plant operators, pipefitters, cable engineers, plumbers, joiners, steel erectors, concrete finishers, tillers, crane drivers, plasterers, electricians, painters, site foremen, safety managers, labourers, environment managers, mechanical fitters, quantity surveyors, miners, cost engineers, site engineers and site agents.
All contractors in the supply chain will be required to communicate opportunities to local residents (including people from disadvantaged groups and deprived communities). Jobcentre Plus will provide information on job vacancies, with a 48 hour window to fill the vacancy before the contractor advertises elsewhere.
Will there be Apprenticeships and training?
Crossrail will require that contractors deliver one apprenticeship or equivalent per £3m of contract value. There will also be an emphasis on opportunities for local people and those who have been out of work for six months or more.
Some Apprenticeship vacancies have already started coming through to COREPlus/Choice Jobs via the Apprenticeship vacancies site. Applications for those mentioned below have now closed, but they give an indication of the sort of vacancies we should see more of:
- Apprentices Construction Operative (contractor based in Westminster, £167.31 per week, no formal qualifications required)
- Apprentice Carpenter & Joiner (contractor based in Westminster, £156 per week, no formal qualifications required)
- Apprentice Construction Operative (contractor based on Olympic site, £170 per week, no formal qualifications required but driving licence needed)
- Apprentice Construction Engineering technician (contractor based on Olympic site, £220 per week, 4 GCSE A*-Cs needed)
A new Tunneling Academy will be set up in Redbridge, East London, training up to 1,000 people a year to “act as a focal point for the industry”.
Employment & Labour Market Adviser