Edinburgh and Glasgow have prominent roles to play in Accenture’s plans to boost its UK workforce by 3,000 over the next three years, which the consultancy giant has unveiled today.
The firm said that with moves in place to expand its Edinburgh office and open new premises in Glasgow, it aims to harness knowledge and talent in Scotland, reflecting opportunities to grow its business locally but also the potential to “deploy that expertise” to service its clients globally from its technology hubs north of the Border.
It said the new roles will span a range of areas, including data intelligence, cloud computing and cyber security with a particular focus on financial services.
Accenture said the news follows the publication earlier this year of its Tech Talent Tracker, which showed resurging demand in city hubs of Edinburgh and Glasgow for cutting-edge skills such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, as organisations in Scotland aim to accelerate digital transformation.
Michelle Hawkins, managing director for Accenture Scotland, said: “This investment to create more jobs across the UK is an opportunity to grow our footprint in Scotland. Scotland has the talent, and by creating these high-value jobs across data analytics and cloud in particular, we hope to continue to build [its] reputation as a place of technology innovation and digital transformation.
“The pandemic has emphasised the role that technology plays in our economy and how it not only drives change but also competitiveness. It has also demonstrated that talent can be accessed anywhere. By building our expertise here in Scotland, we envisage a greater role for Scottish skills supporting companies and economies overseas, without the need for them to relocate. These are exciting times as we adapt to the changes happening around us and we want to be at the forefront of innovation.”
Half of the new roles announced by Accenture will be based outside London, complementing its existing workforce of approximately 11,000. Simon Eaves, market unit lead for Accenture in the UK & Ireland, said: “We are committed to growing our footprint across the UK, which is why I am particularly excited about our plans across Scotland and northern England where we see some of the best technology talent in the country.”
Source: The Scotsman