Capgemini launches 250-job recruitment drive
As Capgemini looks to meet a spike in demand in the Highlands, the consultancy has announced it will look to recruit 250 new staff. The drive will see Capgemini boost its headcount in its Inverness and Nairn wings.
Capgemini is a consulting firm specialising in IT business services, with offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 2020, the firm had a total workforce of around 500 in the North of the country. However, after it won a five-year contract to run the Ministry of Defence’s IT service centre, the firm committed to a major recruitment drive that would double that figure over two years.
Having initially aimed to add 250 staff in October 2020, Capgemini has further committed to add a similar number in the coming months. The recruitment drive will take its workforce in the Highlands to around 900. Nearly 200 people now work in cyber security in the firm’s Highland operations, making the main base for that field of work in the UK.
Innis Montgomery, Head of Capgemini’s Inverness command centre, said, “Of all the work that’s been transitioning into the Highlands, a lot of it is at entry level in terms of people’s digital careers, which is really good. We find that, with the work we are transitioning on the back of some of the wins we have had recently, over time we will start initiating people into project-type work and the skills levels that will be required will be more advanced.”
The news comes after Capgemini announced another contract win earlier in the year. It picked up a five-year gig, this time with the Metropolitan Police Service, to deliver strategic IT infrastructure services. Cyber security will form an important part of this, meaning skilling new staff to meet those demands will be crucial.
Montgomery added, “In a way, what we are doing is bringing lots of people in at a junior level and we will have an opportunity to train them up and, over time, form our own base of talent. So, in effect, what we are doing is creating career pathways for individuals and we have lots of really good examples of how people have progressed at Capgemini.”
Capgemini has been involved in building digital skills in Scotland for some time now, which gives it a growing talent pool to tap into. The company works closely with Inverness College UHI, Skills Development Scotland, HIE and Inverness Chamber of Commerce on training for its workers and its modern apprenticeship programmes. It is also involved in the Scottish Government’s Young People’s Guarantee work experience scheme and the Kickstart programme for people in long-term unemployment.
