BT doubles apprentice intake after huge demand
Telecoms firm BT is to double its intake of apprenticeships after an unprecedented number of candidates applied for the initial 221 positions.
The firm has vowed to recruit more than 200 more apprentices by Christmas, after huge amounts of interest in the positions.
BT said that 24,000 people had registered their interest in the original set of vacancies – which is up from 9,000 applicants in 2009.
The company will take advantage of the surge in demand to help roll out its new high-speed fibre optic broadband network.
BT plans to offer fibre-optic broadband connections to ten million households by 2012.
Prime Minister David Cameron has previously said the government would invest £530m to offer the best broadband services in Europe by 2015.
Successful apprenticeship candidates, who will start on salaries of between £12,000 and £15,000, will go on to work in areas such as IT, telecoms, electrical systems and customer service, and will gain a BTEC qualification or a foundation degree.
BT’s announcement comes hot on the heels of a government commitment to create a further 75,000 apprenticeship places, which was announced as part of a wide-ranging Comprehensive Spending Review.
Mark Astley
Responses