Last updated 15:54, Wednesday, 23 April 2008

BAE workers are being offered a £1,000 bounty if they introduce people with vital skills to the Barrow shipyard.

The move is part of a drive by BAE Systems to recruit hundreds of new workers and increase the workforce to 5,000 by the end of the year.

The Employee Introduction Scheme will offer employees £1,000 each time they introduce someone within certain skill categories. It is broken down as £500 when that person is hired by the business, and another £500 in 12 months if the person recruited is still working there.

Among the roles and areas where the bounties will apply, are designers, nuclear engineers, design engineers, supply chain professionals, quality managers, combat systems managers and engineers, network planners, operations commissioning engineers, and radiation protection.

Graham Hempsall, head of recruitment for Submarine Solutions, said: “The business is in a fantastic position to recruit the people we need, with a programme of work which covers the next 25 years and a very exciting range of roles within one of the most dynamic sectors of UK engineering and manufacturing.

“We’re seeking the skills we need right across the UK, but we’d still primarily like to fill these positions from Barrow where the right people are available.

“We’d be delighted if we could pick up some of the people who may have left the business in the past, or might be working on contract basis elsewhere.”

The bounty scheme excludes certain contract and existing staff.

The shipyard has recruited more than 400 people since November 2007 as there is now work on four Astute-class submarines under way, construction of hull components for new Spanish submarines, concepts for a Trident submarine successor, and two imminent aircraft carriers.