The Swedish telecom kit maker announced it will create up to 800 new jobs in the UK within the next two years driven by the accelerated 5G rollout.

Wei Shi

December 16, 2020

2 Min Read
Ericsson to boost post-Brexit job market by 800

The Swedish telecom kit maker said it would be able to create up to 800 new jobs in the UK within the next two years driven by accelerated 5G rollout.

Ericsson announced that it will directly hire around 250 new people in the UK in the next two years, which will represent a 10% increase on its current workforce in the country. In addition, 550 more positions will be created by its partners to fulfil field and resource tasks. The new demand is driven by the accelerated rollout of 5G across the country, including new 5G deployment as well as upgrading 20,000 existing sites, which presumably will include tasks related to the swap-out of Huawei’s equipment already installed by the operators.

It should not come as a surprise that Ericsson, one of the two biggest beneficiaries from the government’s decision to ban new Huawei 5G gear from next year and to mandate total removal by 2028, needs to expand its workforce to undertake the new job. The vendor is now a 5G supplier to all four UK mobile network operators, the latest being Three, which had planned to rely heavily on Huawei prior to the government decision to exclude the Chinese vendor.

The expansion almost by default does not stop the British government reading it as a vote of confidence in the country’s future. “The UK’s highly skilled workforce and dedication to world-class innovation continues to make it one of the most attractive business environments for tech investors,” said Lord Grimstone, the Minister for Investment. “As our economy recovers from the impact of Covid-19, inward investment in cutting-edge technologies across the UK will help us to build back better nationwide, levelling up the UK. Today’s announcement demonstrates Ericsson’s commitment to excellence in 5G and I look forward to seeing their continued success.”

Matt Warman, the Under-Secretary for Digital Infrastructure, concurred. “I welcome this investment in the UK by Ericsson which will create hundreds of skilled jobs across the country and accelerate the nationwide rollout of 5G,” Warman said. “We’re working hard to build a world-class 5G network, including introducing landmark legislation to boost telecoms security and a new strategy to diversify the supply chain. We will continue to support Ericsson and other providers however we can to deliver an infrastructure revolution for Britain.”

With the trade deal negotiations with the EU going down to the wire, the UK badly needs some good news for the post-withdrawal era. Ericsson’s announcement has just provided such a boost, though it is not the only piece of positive news in recent days. The Financial Times has found that jobs in the finance sector (banks, asset management, etc.) have not fled the UK since the Brexit vote four and a half years ago.

About the Author(s)

Wei Shi

Wei leads the Telecoms.com Intelligence function. His responsibilities include managing and producing premium content for Telecoms.com Intelligence, undertaking special projects, and supporting internal and external partners. Wei’s research and writing have followed the heartbeat of the telecoms industry. His recent long form publications cover topics ranging from 5G and beyond, edge computing, and digital transformation, to artificial intelligence, telco cloud, and 5G devices. Wei also regularly contributes to the Telecoms.com news site and other group titles when he puts on his technology journalist hat. Wei has two decades’ experience in the telecoms ecosystem in Asia and Europe, both on the corporate side and on the professional service side. His former employers include Nokia and Strategy Analytics. Wei is a graduate of The London School of Economics. He speaks English, French, and Chinese, and has a working knowledge of Finnish and German. He is based in Telecom.com’s London office.

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