Openreach has announced that it is bucking the prevailing economic trend by creating 5,300 new UK-based engineering jobs, including at least 11 here on the Isle of Wight, to be filled during 2021.
The new roles will enable the company to continue improving service levels across its existing networks, whilst building and connecting customers to its new, ultrafast ‘Full Fibre’ broadband network at a record pace.
The expansion includes more than 2,500 full-time jobs in Openreach’s own service and network build divisions, as well as an estimated 2,800 positions in its UK supply chain, through partners such as Kelly Group, Kier, MJ Quinn and Talent.
The UK’s largest digital infrastructure firm has separately made a commitment to upgrade all 27,000 Openreach vehicles – the second largest commercial fleet in the UK – to electric by 2030.
Openreach Regional Director, Connie Dixon, said:
“As a major employer and infrastructure builder, we believe Openreach can play a leading role in helping the UK to build back better and greener. Our Full Fibre network build is going faster than ever and we’re now looking for people across the South East to build a career with Openreach and help us upgrade broadband connections and continue improving service levels throughout the region. We’re also investing in our supply chain, which will support the creation of thousands of jobs based all over the UK.
“We know the network we’re building can deliver a host of green benefits – from consuming less power to enabling more home working and fewer commuting trips – and we’re going to take that a step further, by committing to build and maintain that network using state of the art electric vehicles across our 27,000-strong fleet. We’ll have completely transitioned to EVs by 2030.”
Openreach already employs more than 34,500 people, including more than 25,000 engineers who build, maintain and connect customers to its nationwide broadband network. Of these, more than 4,800 live and/or work in the South East.
