Velodrome_roof_from_airJanuary 20 - The "big-build" workforce for the Olympic Park and Olympic Workforce is now close to its peak at 12,112 according to the latest employment and skills figures published by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).


Nearly a quarter of the workers are resident in the five Olympic Park Host Boroughs and six out of ten live in London.

The figures also show that just under two-thirds are British citizens and nine out of ten are European Union nationals.

Programmes set up to maximise the "big build" employment legacy have helped more than 1,200 previously unemployed local people gain work on the Olympic Park, delivered more than 3,000 places training people for work on the Olympic Park and other construction sites, and enabled 408 apprentices to work on the project.

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ODA chairman John Armitt (pictured right) said: "The 'big build' of the Olympic Park and Village is on track and within budget and that is testament to the commitment and skill of the contractors and workforce.

"In a challenging period for the construction industry our contractors are employing 12,000 people and meeting our targets to take on local people and apprentices.

"Thousands of jobs up and down the country have also been created and protected in the supply chains delivering 2012 work."

The ODA's 'Jobs, Skills, Futures' targets include delivering an Olympic Park construction workforce made up of at least 15 per cent of residents of the five host boroughs.

The latest Office for National Statistics Annual Population Survey (2009) showed that residents of the five Olympic Park host boroughs that were born outside of the UK range from between 26 per cent to 48 per cent.

The ODA works closely with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to ensure people working on site are legally entitled to do so.

Since construction started, UKBA representatives have been on site working in partnership with security staff and contractors checking the documentation for workers before they start on the Olympic Park and Village.

The Jobs, Skills, Futures strategy to boost the Olympic Park jobs and skills legacy includes:

  • A jobs brokerage service, in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and the five host boroughs, that matches candidates living locally and elsewhere in the UK with Olympic Park job opportunities. Since April 2008, 1,268 jobs have been filled through the brokerage, which gives local people 48 hours priority access to jobs before they are advertised more widely.
  • A National Skills Academy for Construction, funded by ConstructionSkills, and supported by the Skills Funding Agency and the London Development Agency, which has delivered 3,259 training places. This coordinates training across a range of providers, which includes the Thames House Training Centre, in addition to a plant training centre for people to get the skills needed to win work on the Olympic Park and other construction sites and continue their career development once in work.
  • A commitment to an additional 250 apprenticeships to be created on the Olympic Park and Olympic Village, bringing the total to 350, including through the introduction of a specific requirement to take on apprentices in future contracts. This clause sets a target of three per cent for apprentices in the future workforce of projects currently being procured.

To ensure transparency regarding the workforce, the ODA collect and publish figures on the Olympic Park and Village workforce.

The figures can be downloaded here.


Related stories
October 2010: Olympic Park and Village workforce breaks 10,000 as 'big build' nears peak
February 2010: Toughest year of Olympic project ahead predcits Armitt