Coronavirus: Almost 1,000 new staff to cope with claims surge

Almost 1,000 extra staff are being recruited to deal with an expected surge in unemployment benefit claims caused by Covid, the BBC has learned.

It is predicted that more than 100,000 workers will lose their jobs by Christmas.

The Department for Communities (DfC) estimates it will need an additional 1,400 staff to process the extra benefits applications.

However it is only planning to recruit 900 workers in the coming months.

The recruitment process began this week with the department advertising for 350 work coaches to support those being made redundant.

In a statement the DfC revealed the Universal Credit caseload had doubled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson said: "The department is planning to recruit 900 staff, from both internal and external competitions, in the coming weeks and months to help deal with increased social welfare claims.

• Biggest quarterly NI unemployment rise since 2012

• Unemployment rate hits highest level in three years

"As part of this recruitment exercise the Department has launched a competition to recruit 350 work coaches to help assist people affected by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The posts will be three year fixed contacts, with the possibility of an extension after that time".

'Face that reality'

SDLP Foyle assembly member Mark H Durkan, who was briefed on the figures, said they "painted an alarming picture".

Almost 2,000 redundancies were confirmed in NI in the last three months

"I would love to be in a position to say this is good news, the executive is creating new jobs but the fact is we are creating these new jobs to deal with the massive unemployment which is coming as a result of Covid-19 and probably exacerbated further by Brexit, " he said.

"It is extremely worrying people who worked all their lives and never engaged with the benefit system will now have to face that reality within weeks."

"We are braced for 12% to 14% unemployment over the next few months - that is 125,000 people potentially out of work," he said.

The news comes as an extra 2,000 redundancies were confirmed in the past three months - the largest quarterly rise in eight years.

The figures which brought Northern Ireland's unemployment rate to 3.7% were released earlier this week.