JCB laid off nearly 1,000 employees and 500 agency staff at its UK factories last year when Covid struck. But global demand for construction equipment has since rebounded.
Today the company said that it was recruiting more than 400 additional agency employees in a variety of jobs including assembly, welding and fork lift truck operations.
In addition, JCB is giving permanent contracts to up to 300 existing agency employees, including welders, fabricators and CNC machinists.
Chief operating officer Mark Turner said: “In March 2020 our orders dramatically disappeared overnight when the Covid-19 pandemic took hold and while we were able to protect our shop floor workforce, regrettably many staff positions were impacted. It took more than six months for the business to recover to production levels we last saw in March 2020.
“This year has started strongly and our forecasts predict a continued solid recovery, with strong demand from mainland Europe and North America. This means we are now in a position to recruit many more shop floor colleagues and offer permanent JCB contracts to a large number of existing agency employees. After a tumultuous 12 months, this really is good news.”
Stuart Harrison, regional organiser of the GMB trades union, said: “Loyal JCB workers are being rewarded today. This is how a company should operate, investing in its workforce, not chopping away at it. GMB will always fight to keep its members in work, and we’d like to thank the hard-working union reps who made this possible."
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