AS ONE of the borough's largest employers, Allianz Global Assistance prefer to take on those with local knowledge.
But when, after taking a basic geography test, one Croydon-based candidate managed to place the town in South Wales on the map, it was the latest in a series of episodes which have led the insurance giant to look further afield for its new recruits.
This lack of basic knowledge adds fuel to remarks made by chairman Mike Webb at the Develop Croydon conference last year that the firm, based in George Street, was finding it increasingly hard to recruit staff locally.
Mr Webb, who has worked for the company for more than 20 years, retains a refreshing faith in Croydon, knowing most of his 700 staff still come from the borough.
He said: "Croydon has been a fantastic place for us and although there has been pressure to move, we have always stayed here."
And that is the way Mr Webb wants things to carry on.
He said the company benefits from having a largely locally based workforce, who meet the needs of a 24-hour a day operation and work together with true team spirit.
Importantly also, he said, 700 people using town centre shops restaurants and entertainment facilities is vital to Croydon's economy.
But Mr Webb admits maintaining staff from within the local employment pool is becoming harder.
Mr Webb said: "Three years ago 85 per cent of the people we employed came from Croydon.
"Last year we took on 102 people and only 22 came from the borough. That is a massive change in three years."
The trend now is for more people to come from other areas of south London and Surrey.
This has led Mr Webb to admit that, if the pattern continues, the firm may be forced to consider following the likes of Nestlé in moving away from Croydon.
Mr Webb said pinpointing the problem was hard but he feels many young people in the borough do not have the skills and aspirations Allianz need
He said: "Many just can't be bothered and think we owe them a job."
Allianz is trying to address that by getting more closely involved with schools and Croydon College to offer mentoring schemes to students to help them understand the world of work.
He is also sure that the loss of companies like Nestlé and Bank of America has reduced the pool of skilled workers he can draw on.
Mr Webb said finding solutions would also be hard, although he hoped the Westfield/Hammerson regeneration deal could act as magnet to draw new companies to the town.
He said: "If I could wave a magic wand I would like to see Croydon Council making a concerted effort to encourage more medium sized and larger businesses into the town."
Mr Webb first spoke of his concern about the skill-levels – or lack of them – in our workforce at last November's Develop Croydon conference. He told an audience of business leaders and developers that the pool of middle-class people traditionally recruited to its business is drying up. He said at the time: "Croydon has been a fantastic place for us and we would like to be here for a long time." But he added: "The key issue is how we are going to continue to find these people because we see a large drift out of Croydon of the middle class who have traditionally been our employees. "If they are not here in two or three years time, we won't be here."