27
January
2022
|
08:13
Europe/London

BT Group to recruit more than 600 apprentices and graduates

BT Group today announced plans to recruit more than 600[1] apprentices and graduates for its September 2022 intake.

The company will recruit talent into the company across areas as diverse as engineering, customer service, applied research, and cyber-security to support the UK’s fast-growing digital sectors. The new recruits will also support the company’s plans to build and extend its 5G network around the UK.

The new roles are spread across a number of locations including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow, Ipswich, London and Manchester[2].

Many of these state-of-the-art offices form part of BT’s Better Workplace Programme - the largest workplace improvement programme and consolidation scheme of its type ever undertaken in the UK. The programme, which will complete in 2024, will establish an estate of future fit, high tech workspaces where colleagues can collaborate, innovate and deliver the best for BT’s customers and for the business.

BT Group is one of the UK’s largest private sector apprenticeship employers and has recruited more than 2,000[3] apprentices and graduates over the past three years. The company has around 4,000 colleagues working towards their qualifications at any given time.

Debbie White, Chief Human Resources Officer, BT Group said: “BT is at the heart of the UK’s digital economy and as one of the largest employers of graduates and apprentices in the UK, we offer unparalleled development opportunities.

“Despite the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve continued to recruit and attract brilliant people into our business. The combination of our hybrid working approach and our state-of-the-art offices makes BT a great place for new joiners to learn new skills and capabilities, collaborate with colleagues and bring innovative thinking to drive growth across our business and deliver for all of our customers. It’s a very exciting time to join BT.”

In 2020, BT was ranked fourth in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers in the UK and recently launched its Manifesto for responsible, inclusive, and sustainable growth. To build a bigger, more diverse talent pool, the company wants its workforce to have a 50% gender split, with 25% from an ethnic minority group, and 17% with a disability by 2030.

Alongside its apprenticeship and graduate scheme opportunities, BT is also investing in several initiatives to support young jobseekers. These include BT’s Work Ready training scheme and FastFutures which have already helped thousands of young people kickstart their careers, providing opportunities for young people who aren't in employment, education or training and preparing them for the world of work.

Work Ready and FastFutures form part of BT’s Skills for Tomorrow ambition which aims to help 25m people in the UK develop the skills they need to make the most of life in the digital world by 2026. 

For more information on how to apply for a BT apprenticeship or graduate placement, please visit: https://www.bt.com/careers/early-careers

ENDS

Notes to Editors

  • BT offers graduates two routes to join the business:
    • Graduate Programmes: A two-year programme which provides professional training and personal growth. The scheme allows graduates to spend time in different parts of the business to get a feel for where they fit best. Ideal for graduates looking to kick-start their career by gaining a range of experiences.
    • Graduate Jobs: Aimed at those graduates who know exactly what they want to do in life. Graduates won’t rotate around the business and will instead learn how to be a specialist in one area. 
  • For more information about the BT Group Manifesto, visit http://www.bt.com/btmanifesto
  • BT Group is a partner of the FastFutures programme which helps provide equal opportunities to 18-22-year who are looking to shape their future career. Over the course of 12-weeks, participants learn business-focused skills that are most valued by the employers of today, such as: marketing, data, finance, teamwork and problem solving.
  • For more information about our Work Ready programme and BT’s Skills for Tomorrow, with free courses to develop your digital skills, please visit: https://www.bt.com/skillsfortomorrow
  • Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers: Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers announced - GOV.UK

For further information:

Adam Emberson         07740 008408


 

[1] 622 jobs: 286 graduate and 336 apprentice roles. Excluding Openreach.

[2] Field based roles are located in communities across the country.

[3] Excludes Openreach trainee engineer roles Openreach builds back better and greener with more than 5,000 new jobs and an all-Electric Vehicle fleet to upgrade the nation’s broadband.

About BT

BT Group is the UK’s leading telecommunications and network provider and a leading provider of global communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities in the UK include the provision of fixed voice, mobile, broadband and TV (including Sport) and a range of products and services over converged fixed and mobile networks to consumer, business and public sector customers. For its global customers, BT provides managed services, security and network and IT infrastructure services to support their operations all over the world. BT consists of four customer-facing units: Consumer, Enterprise, Global and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Openreach, which provides access network services to over 650 communications provider customers who sell phone, broadband and Ethernet services to homes and businesses across the UK.

For the year ended 31 March 2021, BT Group’s reported revenue was £21,331m with reported profit before taxation of £1,804m.

British Telecommunications plc is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/about