Dundee is set for an employment boost on the back of telecommunications giant BT’s latest move to ramp up its fibre broadband roll-out plans in Scotland.
The firm said it was creating 150 engineering jobs north of the border with around 90 of the posts located in the Highlands and Islands.
The remainder will be added to BT’s existing workforce in Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dumfries and Galashiels, although the company was unable to give a figure for the number being created in each location.
Successful applicants will be offered 18-month fixed-term contracts with Openreach, BT’s network business, with the recruitment process already under way.
The jobs are in addition to the 1,000 new UK posts announced by BT in March, 50 of which came to Scotland.
The roll-out of high-speed broadband has long been called for by business groups in Tayside and Fife with many firms in rural locations including those in the hospitality sector, where broadband access is seen as essential for paying guests being forced to trade either with inadequate network provision or none at all.
BT’s Openreach division currently employs around 2,500 workers in Scotland, the majority of whom are frontline engineers.