BOSSES at a Brierley Hill insurance firm say they are baffled as to why they can’t fill vacant jobs despite higher than average levels of unemployment in the town.

Legal Insurance Management, based at The Waterfront Business Park, has been desperately trying to fill six positions for months – four of which require no qualifications.

Despite 6.6 per cent of Brierley Hill residents claiming Jobseeker's Allowance last month - 4.2 per cent higher than the average across Great Britain - the jobs with salaries ranging from £14,825 to £25,300, have remained unfilled, although advertised on recruitment websites and social media.

Kathryn Flavell, head of business operations at the family-owned firm, said the only interest has been from half-hearted candidates who have either sent in incomplete application forms, failed to turn up for interviews or expressed a reluctance to work shifts.

She said: "I find it staggering that the media constantly communicate how many people are unemployed, desperate for work and that there are no jobs out there whilst we remain in the position where we are physically unable to fill vacancies.

"We receive applications with just email addresses on and no further information and approximately 50 per cent of people that we invite to interviews do not turn up."

She continued: "When candidates don’t turn up to interviews, despite trying to contact them, we never get any response whatsoever.

"One candidate has been invited to interview three separate times - and has failed to turn up, without explanation each time."

Four of the positions require no qualifications or experience and involve working shifts to deal with customers’ home emergencies within a 24/7 contact centre.

Another vacancy, which requires A-levels or experience, involves working with brokers and intermediaries to create documentation and the final job, which requires a degree, involves handling legal expenses claims of an employment nature.

Mrs Flavell said the majority of candidates interviewed had no understanding of the role they’d applied for or they showed no passion to secure the role.

She added: "We often ask why someone wants to work in insurance or for our company, and most candidates are honest in the fact that they don’t know.

"Being a niche market, it’s often hard to find people who want to be in an insurance environment. We often get applicants with a law degree who want to become solicitors but have failed to gain a training contract and therefore don’t want to be here and we often get candidates who apply and don’t want to work shifts which, for a 24/7 emergency company, is unavoidable."

For more information about the jobs, call 01384 377000.