Opening its new European ‘flagship’ office in London (at the Cottons Centre), Jacobs — an American international technical professional services firm — announced plans to hire about 2,400 staff in the UK over the next two years, adding that the jobs will be a broad range of highly skilled professional and technical roles across diverse sectors.
Joining Jacobs’ existing 9,000 UK employees, (
www.jacobs.com) these new roles will be based at the company’s more than 30 UK offices, “delivering digital and other advanced technical solutions to support more connected communities, cleaner air and water, cyber defences, strategic deterrent, clean energy and environmental clean-up”.
Bob Pragada, Jacobs’ president and COO, said: “Britain is a critical market for Jacobs.
This investment is an indication of our on-going confidence in the UK economy and its long-term infrastructure plans.
"Our people are helping to tackle some of the UK’s most complex challenges to make the future better, delivering projects to safeguard the environment and improve the security, connectivity, resiliency and productivity of the UK.”
Central to this investment in skills is Jacobs’ commitment to ‘developing the next generation of diverse talent’. One third of Jacobs’ 1,300 ‘hires’ in the UK over the past year were graduates, interns and apprentices.
As part of its strategy to continue developing talent, it is collaborating with the London Interdisciplinary School to create a new undergraduate programme.
At the opening of the London office, Professor Brian Cox spoke to pupils aged 16 to 18 from local London schools, aspiring engineers and Jacobs employees about the skills they will need for the future, giving inspirational ideas for future infrastructure projects.
“Jacobs’ work to encourage and help young people to build STEM careers is impressive.
“We are living in an exciting era of scientific discovery and rapid technological change, but we are also facing significant challenges as we try to build a better and sustainable future.
“What is certain is that the next generation's jobs will be unrecognisable from those we see today.”