IT services firm creates 500 jobs in Welsh local authority

IT services firm CGI has created 500 highly skilled IT jobs in Bridgend County Borough following a £3.2m investment from the Welsh government at the end of 2014.

The target is to create 620 IT jobs over five years varying from entry-level to skilled roles. These include service desk analysts, technical design architects, project managers, security specialists and network engineers.

CGI, which is a Canadian IT and business process outsourcing company, acquired Anglo-Dutch Logica for £1.7bn in 2012. It now has around 1,400 members of staff at its south Wales operation in Bridgend.

When announcing the funding in 2015, CGI said it would expand its secure government and commercial cloud technology through a new security operations centre and increase service desk and support teams.

It also said it planned to launch a testing service and develop mobility, healthcare and smart metering technology.

Edwina Hart, minister for the economy in the Welsh government welcomed the progress. “CGI is one of the largest technology companies operating in the ICT sector in Wales and makes a significant contribution to the Welsh economy.

“This major investment in Bridgend, where it has a highly successful operation, is very welcome and ensures south Wales will continue to be a strategically important part of the company’s growth plans.”

CGI is also investing more than £1m improving its offices in Bridgend.

Seperately, in March 2016, Scottish Borders Council signed a 13-year contract with CGI worth £92m to improve digital services and create 200 jobs. CGI will launch a Scottish ICT delivery centre, which will bring jobs to the area and provide the council with “state of the art technology”.