BT creates new fibre engineering jobs in Scotland
Scottish Government hails recruitment
BT expects to create 150 new posts as part of a major recruitment drive in Scotland for new engineers to help roll out fibre broadband across the country.
The company is taking on the new recruits in Inverness, Fort William, Oban and Aberdeen as well as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Dumfries and Galashiels. They’ll help to build Scotland’s fibre broadband network and install fibre services in homes and businesses.
The recruitment supports BT’s £2.5 billion UK-wide commercial programme and its next generation broadband partnerships in the Highlands and Islands and the rest of Scotland.
Around 90 of the posts will be in the Highlands and Islands. Recruitment is already under way, and the successful applicants will be offered 18-month fixed term contracts with Openreach, BT’s network business.
The jobs are in addition to the 1000 new UK jobs announced by BT in March, which included more than 50 posts for Scotland. Among these jobs were posts for former Armed Forces personnel and Modern Apprentices.
Brendan Dick, director of BT Scotland, said: “The advance of fibre broadband across Scotland is good news in more ways than one. Faster broadband will help to fuel local economies across rural and urban Scotland and the jobs we’re creating are part of that.
“We’ve already had a great response for the posts in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, Dumfries and Galashiels and now we’re very keen to hear from people in Inverness, Fort William, Oban and Aberdeen. We’re looking for dynamic, customer-focused people with a can-do attitude who’ll help build the network infrastructure and deliver fibre products and services into homes and offices in and around these towns and cities.
“It’s skilled, interesting work which will give the successful recruits the chance to gain experience in a fast-paced, constantly evolving industry and be at the forefront of connecting communities to the future.”
The recruitment drive reflects BT’s success in winning contracts to deploy fibre across the Highlands and Islands and in the rest of Scotland. Alongside commercial investment plans, these two partnerships will extend fibre broadband to 85 per cent of Scottish premises by the end of 2015 and around 95 per cent by the end of 2017.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Up to 150 new jobs is a welcome boost to the job market, presenting new business opportunities across the country.
“These jobs come on the back of our recent announcement of a high speed broadband network, created in partnership with BT. This initiative will connect communities across rural and urban areas, providing a platform for future economic development and regeneration.
“This is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the whole of Europe and will enable businesses to compete on the international stage.”
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) leads the £146m Highlands and Islands partnership project. Carroll Buxton, director of regional development for HIE, said: “The roll-out of high speed broadband across the Highlands and Islands will bring significant development opportunities to businesses, individuals and communities through faster, more reliable connectivity.
“The new jobs being created during the implementation phase are an additional benefit and HIE welcomes the opportunity for individuals in the region to take advantage of them to establish a career in this growing sector.”
The recruitment also reflects BT’s wider commercial programme, which will see around 1.46 million Scottish homes and places of work having access to fibre broadband by the end of Spring 2014. Of these, around 650,000 can connect to the network now.
The company is looking to recruit team players who have good problem solving skills and are technically minded, self-motivated and enjoy working in physically active roles. They will join Openreach’s existing Scottish workforce of around 2,500, the majority being frontline engineers.
CVs can be sent to openreach.jobs@openreach.co.uk and for more information about Openreach’s fibre deployment visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk
