Greater Manchester councils select inploi to boost job platform

A consortium comprising 13 local authorities across Greater Manchester and Blackpool has selected the talent tech firm inploi in a significant multiway tender.

Wigan Borough Council is leading the initiative under the title ‘the greater.jobs Collaboration’, facilitated the selection of inploi’s platform. The participating councils and key services include Bolton, Bury, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan, alongside Transport for Greater Manchester and Blackpool.

This decision comes against the backdrop of the UK's labour shortage, nearing 1 million vacancies, underscoring the fierce competition for talent. Inploi's technology, leveraging AI and data-driven methodologies, aims to enhance candidate experiences, improve hiring efficiencies, and streamline the application process for potential employees.

The four-year contract, valued at a six-figure sum, was awarded following a competitive pitch that saw inploi up against several established industry vendors. This collaboration marks a considerable upgrade to the greater.jobs platform, focusing on personalisation and an improved candidate journey.

Alison Herbert, Project Lead for greater.jobs, remarked, “There are a number of reasons why we chose inploi, including its creative and analytical response to our requirements, as well as the personal and responsive nature of the company. Our partnership will significantly enhance our candidate experience, easing access for applicants to the hundreds of vacancies across the region. It’s an incredibly exciting transformation and will hugely strengthen our ability to compete for talent in today’s market.”

Alex Hanson-Smith, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Product Officer of inploi, added, “This partnership exemplifies how our technology can be used to help organisations future-proof their candidate experience in an increasingly competitive labour market. Our utilisation of AI, vast amounts of data, and robust integrations is already driving efficiencies for some of the UK’s largest employers. We hope this will set a new standard for public sector organisations seeking to upgrade from legacy systems.”

Inploi's platform has already been integrated with several Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) used by the councils, including Jobtrain, Eploy, and Pentagull, ensuring a seamless implementation process. This strategic move is aimed at meeting the new expectations and access requirements of the modern workforce, including Gen Z and neurodiverse employees.

The partnership's primary goal is to address the high pressure faced by councils to provide efficiencies in talent acquisition, making it a top priority amidst the ongoing labour market challenges. By adopting inploi's technology, the Collaboration seeks to optimise the greater.jobs candidate experience, offering a more streamlined and personalised online interface.

This significant enhancement includes deploying branded, intuitive career pages for each employer while providing the human resources teams with real-time application insights and return on investment intelligence through comprehensive analytics and data visualisation.

This arrangement highlights the critical need for public sector organisations to modernise their recruiting processes, ensuring they can attract and retain talent in a competitive employment landscape. The greater.jobs Collaboration's adoption of advanced technology aims to provide a more efficient and engaging application process, aligning with current employment trends and expectations.