PwC to create more than 600 skilled jobs in Northern Ireland
The Department has worked with PwC, Belfast Met and Ulster University (UU) to develop a £4.4m pre-employment training project to upskill individuals through Assured Skills Academies to compete for 600 exciting new jobs at PwC as part of significant growth for the firm in Northern Ireland.
The Academies will be delivered by Belfast Met and Ulster University over the next five years and the first Academy, PwC’s Future Business Skills Academy, is open for applications now.
Announcing the project, DfE Deputy Secretary Heather Cousins said: “This expansion by PwC is a massive endorsement of the talent in Northern Ireland and the Department for Economy’s ability to respond to the skills needed by growing companies in the professional services sector here.
“The co-operation between DfE, PwC, Belfast Met and Ulster University to upskill graduates to compete for 600 new jobs at PwC represents the biggest Assured Skills Academies project to date.
“Assured Skills Academies are a proven and successful model of upskilling the Northern Ireland workforce and ensuring that local businesses have access to the people they need to grow. Since starting as a pilot in 2011, Assured Skills Academies have trained more than 1,500 people, with over 1,200 securing employment across a range of diverse sectors.”
PwC is recruiting people for permanent, highly-skilled roles in the company’s new state-of-the-art, tech-enabled Merchant Square office in Belfast, within its rapidly expanding Operate operational delivery division.
Academy participants will receive industry-relevant pre-employment training that equips them to compete for increasingly in-demand jobs such as business associates, data analysts and robotic process engineers. PwC will be recruiting for these posts and those who complete an Academy will be guaranteed an interview with the firm.
Paul Terrington, PwC’s Head of Regions, said: “Our Operate division’s unprecedented growth over the past two and a half years has created a consistent demand for more highly-skilled people to fill exciting jobs of the future in Northern Ireland – PwC’s biggest UK location outside London.
“Co-creating the content for these Academies means we are able to play a positive role in upskilling the Northern Ireland workforce, in line with PwC’s commitment to digital upskilling not just for our employees but for wider society.”
Ian McConnell, PwC partner responsible for Operate, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the Department for the Economy, Belfast Met and UU to retain and upskill Northern Ireland’s homegrown workforce, attract people home and create sustainable, quality jobs of the future.
Find out more information and how to apply for the PwC Future Business Skills Academy.
