BT is creating nearly 80 new jobs in Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal.
Some 50 of the new posts will be added to the firm’s call centre workforce over the next six months.
The bulk will be based at BT’s city centre Belfast base, and include a mixture of full, part-time and apprenticeship positions.
A further 28 posts will be a mixture of apprenticeship and graduate positions – split across BT’s teams in Belfast.
And they’ll be based across a range of areas, including software development, IT, engineering as well as sales and services.
And aside from the new jobs – which will bring the firm’s total Northern Ireland workforce to around 2,400 people – BT is also offering work experience for third leve lstudents with 10 48-week placements.
Colm O’Neill, chief executive of BT in Ireland, said an increasing proportion of firm’s workforce here catered for its business right across the globe.
“We employ over 2,400 people in Northern Ireland and one of the most interesting dynamics is how the balance has shifted from serving local requirements, to the whole BT group,” he said.
“A lot of these jobs are part of that. The biggest is the 50 new jobs in the BT Flex contact centre.”
And he said the company had ambitions to expand further in Northern Ireland.
“We will continue to bid for work to come to Northern Ireland,” he said.
“We’ve had a successful track record of that sort of investment. We’ve also had a graduate programme over the last number of years, and that’s been hugely successful.
“Our latest recruitment supports this belief and further emphasises our commitment to supporting the growth of the ICT sector by creating opportunities for people to get the skills, support and training they need to carve out successful careers in Northern Ireland.”
Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the telecoms giant’s latest expansion was “a welcome boost” for Northern Ireland.
“BT is an established investor and major employer in Northern Ireland. This latest expansion is a welcome boost for our business services sector which is a key driver of economic growth,” she said.
“BT’s commitment to developing new talent demonstrates the company’s confidence in our skills base.
“This recruitment campaign will provide valuable career and training opportunities to local people within the dynamic, growing telecommunications sector.”
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