Thousands of jobs created to deal with PPI claims

More than 20,000 jobs have been created to deal with soaring claims over mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), the BBC reports.

Most of the jobs have been created by big banks, and the figure does not take into account those jobs created by companies that act as middlemen for claimants.

Employment group Manpower said that overall, the UK’s employment situation was the best since the recession began.

The group surveyed more than 2,000 firms and found that employers were planning to increase their recruitment in the second quarter of this year.

The finding affirm Office for National Statistics data, which also shows that record numbers are in work.

But Manpower UK managing director Mark Cahill said that the survey results are not as positive as they might appear.

“Take the best performing sector, for example - business and finance services - which shows a score of plus-13%,” Cahill said.

“On face value, you’d think we were in the midst of a boom, but many of the jobs created here are the direct result of the mis-selling of PPI and interest rate swaps. These scandals have spawned a new industry to deal with the fallout.”

Cahill added that the number of jobs created by the PPI scandal was set to continue rising.

“A whopping £17bn has already been allocated, and some commentators think that number could rise much further. The consequence of this will not only mean cash in people’s pockets, it will also translate into jobs.

“Even the financial ombudsman is recruiting extra people,” he added.