The Finnish branch of the multinational IT and management consultancy firm CGI, headquartered in Montreal, appears to have turned the bend from turbulent times that saw it engage in several rounds of massive jobs cuts.
As recently as August, the company announced plans to redline up to 240 of 3,200 jobs in Finland in an attempt to weather stiff competition, changing customer expectations and modest growth in the Finnish IT sector.
However on Tuesday, CGI announced that it would roll out a new campaign to hire up to 1,000 new workers over the next three years. The programme will target students and recent university graduates for fixed-term trainee programmes.
CGI chief executive Tapio Valonen said that digitalisation is creating new needs for customers and service providers. As a result the company needs new employees. He noted that over the years CGI had relied on students at educational institutions to help develop new products.
"We have noticed that there is quite brilliant expertise, enthusiasm and the kind of innovation that our customers expect of us," Volanen added.
The mass recruitment will mainly occur via its Future Talent internship programme, in which trainees will be paid according to prevailing collective agreements. The programme will offer participants work for periods of four to six months.
"If during that time there’s a good feeling on both sides, then we hope to offer as many permanent positions as possible," he added.
The background to the programme is an apprenticeship model which pairs experienced employees with younger workers.
The company will launch the campaign with a Future Talent recruitment event at Finlandia Hall.