BT closes graduate recruitment scheme

Tough times at communications giant lead to cost-cutting measures

BT reported £134m losses last year

BT has closed its graduate recruitment scheme as part of its cost-cutting programme.

The firm says it will not set a date for renewing the scheme but will maintain relationships on campus with students, faculty and career management services.

BT said in a statement: "BT can confirm that it has decided to cease its graduate recruitment programme for the time being, as a result of the current economic environment and pressure on staff numbers."

The scheme has recruited several of BT's top executives over the years including Hanif Lalani the current head of BT Global Services.

BT is a big employer of IT graduates and competition for places was fierce. It received 4,800 applications for 130 jobs through the scheme in 2008-2009.

BT said it remained committed to providing 2009 graduates who start this September with the usual two-year training scheme.

The firm reported £134m losses in 2008-2009, largely due to problems in its global services division.

The news comes as new figures from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (Apsco), which represents Britain’s IT recruiters, showed that twice as many IT workers entered the country from outside the UK as all the other professional services combined, highlighting further fears over a skills gap in the UK.

And A-level results last week showed that numbers of students taking ICT and computing A-levels both fell by over 20 per cent – the fifth consecutive year numbers have dropped.