HUNDREDS of jobs are up for grabs around Bolton in a drive to tackle unemployment following the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 200 vacancies have become available in Bolton and neighbouring Salford, while recruitment drives are taking place across Greater Manchester with organisations such as MI5.

Amazon are working closely with the Jobcentre to provide 175 vacancies in Bolton, and a frozen food store called Oops also provided 20 vacancies, with 10 already filled.

The Jobcentre is driving the move to get people into work as the impact of coronavirus becomes more clear.

Ian Mitchell, spokesperson for Bolton Jobcentre, said:”There are redudancies and there are more people claiming Universal Credit but there are still a lot of opportunities out there, particularly in certain sectors such as construction and distribution.

“We’re working very closely with Amazon in Bolton and we can secure interviews with our customers.

“In the Autumn we’ve also got out £2 billion Kickstart Scheme which will get secure six-month job placements paid at national living wage for young people.”

Across Manchester, MI5, the UK’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency are currently hiring. They are looking for recruits in IT and the Science and Technical department.

Meanwhile, a recently opened Selco Builders warehouse in Salford has created 50 jobs.

The Jobcentre is also working with Starts, a subsidiary of Bolton at Home as they search for workers for vacancies such as caretakers, administration and advice officers.

As of July 9, 29,708 people in Bolton were claiming Universal Credit, an increase of 725 since June 11. But the Jobcentre is working hard to get people back into work.

Nationally 5,551,559 people are on Universal Credit in Great Britain as of July 9, with 533,295 people in the North West.

Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP said: “These figures show more of the impact the virus is having on our labour market and many people will be understandably concerned about the future – which is why we’ve set out our ‘Plan for Jobs’, to protect, create and support jobs as we build back our economy.

“We’ve already protected more than 9.5 million jobs throughout this period with the furlough scheme, supported more than two million self-employed people and paid out billions in loans and grants to thousands of businesses.

"The Eat Out to Help Out scheme is supporting thousands of jobs in the hospitality sector, and the cut to stamp duty has led to a surge in house sales and a welcome boost to the economy. Looking to the future, next month we’re launching the £2billion Kickstart scheme to create thousands of high quality jobs for young people, increasing access to tailored job support by doubling the number of work coaches across the UK and we are boosting the Flexible Support Fund by £150m to provide localised employment support.”