The UK Government’s ambitious ‘Project Gigabit’ aims for a minimum of 85% of households and businesses – that’s 30 million premises in the hardest-to-reach 20% of the country – to have access to gigabit broadband by the end of 2025. Gigabit-capable broadband means download speeds of 1 gigabit per second (or 1000 megabits per second), allowing, for example, a high-definition film to be downloaded in less than a minute.
Currently 95% of UK premises have access to a superfast broadband connection (a download speed of at least 30 Mbps), but around 1.5 million homes don’t have this connection option at all. The gigabit rollout will dramatically improve the digital connectivity across the country, impacting homes and businesses in hard-to-reach areas, as well as remote workers, GP surgeries, libraries and schools.
This gigabit broadband strategy is expected to be one of the fastest rollouts in Europe, with the Government contributing £5 billion of funding towards the project. The onus is on the telecoms industry to deliver the 80% coverage by 2025, with internet service providers (ISPs) needing to build up their fibre networks, but employers are dealing with a huge challenge in attracting qualified Telecoms and Fibre Engineers. This is mostly because of the huge shortage of skilled talent, which The Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA) reported in May, but it’s also partly due to the locations of projects, requiring candidates to temporarily relocate to remote areas and complete project builds.15,000 new workers are needed to deliver Project Gigabit and Manpower is helping the industry to reach the ambitious 2025 goalIt’s estimated that the industry needs up to 15,000 new workers to realise this ambitious target so to close the talent gap, Manpower is partnering with organisations to supply them with skilled candidates, using our unrivalled specialist tools and insights. We’ve built a unique telecoms vertical to help ISPs build their Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) programmes nationwide and we’ve also designed a tech academy, equipping talent with the right skills to meet the job needs of today, and the future.
With our experience and market-leading insights, we’re perfectly placed to supply your organisation with the talent you need now. To learn more about the customised programmes we can develop for your unique needs, contact the team today.
Manpower is a global leader in the recruitment industry, paving the way in the world of work. Every day, tens of thousands of people go to work because of us, and thousands of companies thrive because of the people we find them. With offices spread throughout the country, we work with a breadth of clients across different sectors, making our expertise unrivalled.
