Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to partner with British Council Generation UK-India programme to create opportunities for British students.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, today announced a unique initiative to develop UK talent. One thousand young British university graduates will have the opportunity to spend a year training and working for TCS at its Innovation Labs and software development centres across India through a new partnership between the British Council and TCS.
With employment opportunities in the UK IT sector set to grow at almost twice the UK average employment rate between now and 2020 according to the Tech Partnership, the Social Market Foundation has predicted that the UK faces a shortfall in domestic supply of around 40,000 graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics per year. The new TCS-British Council partnership aims to address this challenge by helping to foster the next generation of digital talent in the UK and provide British employers with the graduates they will need to succeed in the future.
British Council Chief Executive, Sir Ciarán Devane, said: “This partnership marks a great new phase in the UK’s developing relationship with India. It is fantastic that a thousand young graduates from across the UK will be able to benefit from India’s expertise in digital technology and also gain invaluable international experience working at TCS, one of the world’s largest technology consultancy organisations. India is emerging as a global superpower and initiatives such as this will enable the next generations in both countries to engage, learn and grow with each other.”
“As a technology partner to many large British businesses, we see their desire to exploit new and exciting opportunities presented by digital technologies. However, all too often, our customers are unable to do this quickly as the UK talent pool needs knowledge and training in these new technologies,” said N Chandrasekaran, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services. “By providing 1,000 British graduates with the opportunity to work and train with TCS, we hope to help address this skills shortage and give UK employers access to the digital expertise that they will need to compete and succeed in the hyper-connected Digital Economy.”
UK Trade and Investment Minister, Lord Maude, said: “The UK and India have a strong, successful trade relationship. Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK this week demonstrates our commitment and ambition to collaborate further. Both countries have a wealth of talent and expertise to share and I am pleased to see so many UK and Indian companies announcing deals this week. By working in partnership we can deliver real benefits and job creation for both of our economies.”
One thousand new internships will take place between 2016 and 2020 and will be managed jointly by the British Council and TCS. Each internship will last 12 months and will give graduates from British universities an opportunity to work for TCS in India, where they will receive training in the technical and commercial skills needed for a career in software development, global consulting, business process management or human resources. This new commitment is part of TCS’ wider investment in training for its workforce, with over 100,000 employees being trained in emerging digital technologies this year alone.
The young British graduates will also have the chance to learn digital and business skills at one of the IT industry’s most successful businesses, the partnership also represents an opportunity to gain experience of living and working in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Applications for the internships will open in the coming months, with the first cohort set to begin their roles in India in Summer 2016.
Between 2015 and 2020, Generation UK-India aims to support up to 25,000 young people coming from the UK to travel to India to gain experience, exposure and skills. Since its launch in November 2014 by Greg Clark, UK Minister for Universities, Science and Cities and Indian Minister for Human Resource Development Smriti Irani, Generation UK-India has received more than 7,000 registrations and with over 2,600 completed applications for the first 500 places.
A leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation, Tata Consultancy Services has been operating in the UK since 1975 and works with some of the UK’s biggest businesses including 33 of the FTSE 100. Today, TCS is one of the UK’s biggest digital employers with more than 11,000 UK employees working across 30 locations in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Ipswich, Norwich, Peterborough, Swindon, Redhill and Liverpool.
Tata Consultancy Services’ partnership with the British Council is the latest in a number of digital skills initiatives within the UK. As part of its IT Futures programme, TCS is already working with UK schools, universities and the not-for-profit sector to help encourage young people to pursue a career in IT. Since its inception in 2013, the IT Futures programme has reached over 23,000 young people in the UK.