Nearly 400 Coventry employees who are being made redundant have been encouraged to find new jobs through an in-house jobs initiative.

Workers at AGCO's Massey Ferguson plant in Banner Lane will be able to visit a job shop, which aims to locate suitable vacancies in the area and match them with staff facing the axe.

The move follows AGCO's announcement that they are to shed almost 20% of the Massey workforce due to falling demand for their tractors and agricultural machinery.

The scheme, which is called Progress in Partnership, is a combined operation involving Quality Careers Service, Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and the City Council.

Chamber Director Peter Shearing believes it is an excellent opportunity for worried staff to discover opportunities. He said:

"The idea is that people can come to the job shop for advice on what is the best direction for them to take.

"We will speak to them and establish their background, ambitions and talents and advise them of ways in which they can go about achieving these.

"When this scheme was first introduced it was aimed more at inward investment and trying to get companies moving to this area to find their staff from around here, but we have realised that it is also ideal in situations like this one.

"Companies will come to us and inform us of a vacancy that they may have, for example a machine toolist, and then we will let the partnership know so that they could match it up with a suitable candidate from Masseys.

"Obviously this offers an ideal solution for everyone, the employee gets back into work and the employer gets an experienced and proven member of staff."

However the scheme is not just focusing on getting people back into work as soon as possible, but also advising anybody who may be looking for an entirely new career path.

Linda Pinks from Quality Career Services believes that people can use redundancy as a starting point for something new.

She said:

"Many people will think about the financial aspect of losing their job, but some will stand back and realise that it is their opportunity to try something different.

"These are the people who will come to us and we advise them on re-training, and any other fields that may suit their individual vocations."