The company will recruit talent into the company across areas as diverse as software engineering, customer service, applied research, data analytics and cyber-security to support the UK’s fast-growing digital sectors.

The new roles are spread across a number of state-of-the-art offices which form part of BT Group’s Better Workplace Programme - the largest workplace improvement programme and consolidation scheme of its type ever undertaken in the UK.  Locations include Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Ipswich, Leeds, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Warrington^[2].

BT Group is one of the UK’s largest private sector apprenticeship employers and has recruited more than 3,000 apprentices and graduates over the past five years. The company offers apprenticeships ranging from level two, the equivalent to GCSE standard through to level seven, a master’s degree.

In 2023, BT Group was ranked second in the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers in the UK and as part of its Manifesto for responsible, inclusive, and sustainable growth the company has pledged to build a more diverse talent pool.

Elaine Bergin, Director of Colleague Experience, BT Group said: “As one of the largest private sector employers of apprentices and graduates in the UK, we continue to recruit and attract brilliant people into our business and we offer unparalleled opportunities to those who join us.

“As we build a better BT Group, we’re developing a pipeline of future talent to help grow our business, deliver great outcomes for our customers and to help underpin economic growth in the UK.”

For more information on how to apply for an apprenticeship or graduate job at BT Group, please visit: https://www.bt.com/earlycareers

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers: Top100AE23.pdf (topapprenticeshipemployers.co.uk)
• For more information about the BT Group Manifesto, visit:  BT Group Manifesto - Responsible business | BT Plc
• BT Group is a partner of the Fast Futures programme which helps provide equal opportunities to 18-22-year olds 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.

^[1] 557 jobs: 111 graduate and 446 apprentice roles.

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

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.

London, 10 June 2021 – A new study from BT and creative business and youth specialists Livity, has found that despite listing climate change as a key societal problem, many people don’t know how to actively make a difference.

In a poll of over 2,000 adults, 20% admitted to not engaging with the climate change agenda, despite 32% stating that they worry more about the state of the environment than they do about violent crime.

Almost one-fifth of those surveyed stated that feeling ‘alone’ in making a difference was one of the main reasons they had not attempted to tackle the issue of climate change. Others noted the lack of a collective movement to help them drive the cause.

As a result, one in four adults want better support from existing authorities to help guide their engagement with the climate change movement. More than a third also want businesses and manufacturers to make their sustainable products more affordable to help encourage greater adoption.

Ways in which some individuals are already attempting to make a change, include reducing waste (54%), shopping more locally (33%), and raising awareness of the issues around climate change (14%).

Gabrielle Ginér, Head of Environmental Sustainability at BT said: “Climate change is an issue that we all face and at BT we want more people to feel united in action. Where we live, our ethnicity and our socio-economic status all play a key role in defining our connection with climate change. No one person or organisation can tackle climate change alone which is why we want people to feel inspired to make a contribution of their own, however large or small. It’s the combination of everybody pulling together that will make the difference.”

Alan Bryant, Strategy Partner at Livity said: “For those who feel they can have an impact, climate change is seen as something that everyone can play their part in. They believe in the cumulative impact of every individual’s actions.

“However, for those who don’t believe they can drive change, the opposite is true - they feel instead that the climate emergency is a bigger issue than the individual, a bigger issue than they can solve alone. Many believe it should be the responsibility of government and industry to enact change, but the truth lies, as ever, somewhere in the middle – with individuals and large groups both working together.”

With a customer base of 30 million households, BT is well placed to help households cut their carbon footprint, and has recently partnered with environmental charity Hubbub to carry out a three-month ‘Smarter Living Challenge’ looking at the ways technology can help cut household emissions.

The company believes that its technology and networks will underpin many of the innovative solutions needed to achieve a net zero carbon economy - supporting everything from home-working through to the development of smart cities and enabling the Internet of things.

As part of plans to become a net zero carbon emissions business by 2045, BT is using 100% renewable electricity worldwide. Consumers who buy mobile or broadband from EE, BT or Plusnet are already supplied by networks that are powered by 100% clean power. The company has also outlined plans to electrify up to 28,000 of its 33,000 vehicles by 2030.

In the run up to climate talks later this year, BT is calling on other companies to get involved by setting their own ambitious net zero targets and by engaging with their customers, colleagues and suppliers about climate change and the difference they can make.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• We surveyed 2000 of the general population aged 18-70+ from across England, Scotland and Wales, ensuring we heard from those from a range of locations, genders, ethnicities and social groups. We then held a series of qualitative online workshops with 19 young men nationwide: whom 10 of the group ranked the interest in climate change as strong interest and 9 of the group ranked it as not very strong.
• You can view the Livity report in full here.
• Further information on how BT is supporting its customers to cut their carbon emissions is available here.
• For more information about BT's work Sustainability please visit: Digital impact & sustainability | BT Plc

These proposals were revised in July to encompass a complete removal of Huawei equipment from the UK’s 5G networks by 2027.

This proposed legislation clearly has an impact on all operators in the UK market. It would be easy to focus purely on the challenges presented by that decision.

But it’s also a powerful opportunity. A chance to reframe and reshape our networks for the future; to build the fast, flexible, stable and secure connectivity our customers want, and the country needs.

I’ve been hugely impressed by the positive, forward looking attitude of our network and procurement teams as they’ve stepped up to address that opportunity.

In the nine months since the initial decision, we’ve signed significant new deals with two of the world’s leading equipment vendors, Nokia and Ericsson, that will enable us not only to meet our commitments to the UK government, but to continue building out our award-winning 5G network across the UK and to consolidate our leading position in mobile.

Two deals may not sound like a lot, but the scale and complexities involved mean that getting these agreed in just nine months is a real testament to the hard work of hundreds of people across the business.

But it’s only the start.

Since March, with the advent and impact of Covid-19, BT’s networks have played a central, crucial role in the UK’s ability to function as a society. We’ve kept tens of millions connected to their loved ones, to emergency services and local community support, to their jobs and schools.

Our networks have never experienced greater demand. Daytime traffic on our core network more than doubled over the course of this year, with millions of people working from home, entertaining and educating their families, and relying on us to deliver the connectivity they need, day in, day out.

The performance of our networks in the face of these pressures has been incredible, but our ability to scale to meet the challenges of Covid-19 hasn’t been a fluke, or down to luck.

In the past five years, BT has invested, consistently, in building one of the world’s leading networks. Through the acquisition of EE, our investments in 5G and full fibre, our leading public Wifi coverage, and our cutting edge, highly scalable, software-defined core, we’ve been laying the foundations to deliver a truly 21^st century connectivity platform for our customers, from consumers to global multinationals. We’re already a leader in many of the things that matter most to our customers – speed, reliability and security. But we’re not resting on our laurels.

There’s still lots of work to do. We’re building like fury to extend full fibre broadband and mobile coverage as widely as possible, including the rapid early deployment of 5G across 112 towns and cities, but those are multi-year programmes, as is our commitment to closing down our legacy network infrastructure, and moving to IP voice and data networks.

We have already laid the groundwork for one of the most modern, secure and capable communications infrastructures, not only in the UK, but globally. A benchmark against which other networks will be measured, a powerful differentiator for us as a business, and a powerful force for the UK’s post-Brexit economy and recovery from Covid-19. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

- Howard Watson, Chief Technology and Information Officer

For more information about what we’re doing in response to Coronavirus, please visit:

BT Group: www.btplc.com/coronavirus

BT: www.bt.com/coronavirus

EE: www.ee.co.uk/coronavirus

Plusnet: www.plusnet.co.uk/coronavirus