Openreach to create an extra 258 jobs in expansion

MORE than 250 trainee engineers will be hired across Wales as part of the largest recruitment drive ever undertaken by Openreach.

The announcement follows news that Openreach, Britain’s leading digital network business, will accelerate plans to build more ultrafast Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband across the country.

The 258 new roles in Wales, part of 3,500 available across the UK during the next 12 months, will be located across Wales including Anglesey and Wrexham.

Trainees will join the UK’s largest team of telecoms engineers, working to expand, upgrade, maintain and install new services over Openreach’s national broadband network.

Openreach’s ‘Fibre First’ programme will deliver expanded ‘full fibre’ FTTP networks in up to 40 towns, cities and boroughs, setting it on a trajectory to reach ten million British premises by the mid-2020s.

Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: “These trainee engineers will be playing a vital role in the future success and prosperity of Wales.

“Over the last year, our 1,600 Welsh engineers have been the driving force behind making ‘ superfast’ broadband available to more than 93% of the country, whilst also improving our customer service performance – but we want to do more.

“Every day, Openreach engineers are working in all weathers across the length and breadth of Britain, connecting homes and businesses and making sure people can access the high quality broadband services they need.

“We are already investing in upskilling our engineering team and today’s announcement of new jobs, including 258 in Wales, underlines our commitment to make our ‘Fibre First’ programme a reality - future-proofing Britain’s broadband network and supporting emerging mobile technologies like 5G.”

Ynyr Roberts, infrastructure delivery director for Openreach in Wales, said: “This latest recruitment represents a further major investment in Wales.

“It’s very exciting news for our country.

“We’re looking forward to men and women from all walks of life applying for these roles at Openreach as we’re keen to engage with the aspiring engineers of tomorrow and to build a diverse workforce that reflects the hugely diverse communities we serve.

“Becoming an engineer can be an incredibly rewarding career.”

More at www.movementtowork.com.