Bosses at HS2 say the controversial project has created a “jobs boom” across the Midlands.
Work is continuing on the high speed rail line which cuts through parts of Lichfield and the surrounding villages.
The project workforce has now grown to 27,000 across the country, with more than 6,800 people employed in the Midlands.
Rebecca Young, skills and employment strategy manager for HS2 Ltd, said the project was also helping 539 people pack into work as part of the construction of the line, while more than 340 apprentices have also been employed in the region in areas such as health and safety, land referencing and cyber security.
“Long before HS2 trains start arriving in the Midlands, Britain’s biggest infrastructure project is delivering for the region.
“Just under 7,000 people living in the West Midlands have found jobs with HS2, plus hundreds of formerly unemployed helped into work, and apprenticeships and T-Levels helping to train the country’s next generation of engineers, builders and more.
“HS2 is the UK’s flagship Levelling Up project and we remain committed to driving investment and opportunities into the Midlands.”
Rebecca Young, HS2 Ltd
Details of vacancies linked to the HS2 construction project are available online.
HS2 is a levelling up project? Really? It won’t benefit anyone in most of the areas it will pass through, people who will have endured years of upheaval. It has always been focused on London, enabling those who can afford to travel on it to reach the capital marginally quicker from a very limited number of places, although it is difficult to imagine a lot of people using it by the time it is finished, no doubt woefully behind schedule and wildly outside budget. In the meantime, the extortionate amount of money it will cost could have been spent on far more worthier things (the failing NHS for one) that would contribute to levelling up. I appreciate that those involved will want to put a positive spin on it, but come on! As for creating employment, thousands of doctors and nurses are needed, far more than this white elephant project will employ.