The ex-armed forces men and women are due to start their new jobs this month. They will be part of a mobile engineering workforce, which will help to deploy super-fast broadband to homes and businesses across the UK.
Openreach has been working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), an arrangement between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Right Management, a global talent and career management consultancy. The CTP provides career guidance along with training and employment support to those leaving the armed forces.
Olivia Garfield, CEO Openreach said: "It is fantastic we have been able to recruit so many ex-armed services personnel. These people have served their country well and so deserve the chance of full-time employment with a generous reward package. They are highly skilled, motivated and disciplined and have experience of complex engineering tasks in challenging environments.
"Our 'fast-track' recruitment programme should see the majority of them join us by the end of May and, given their experience, we will be able to train them quickly and get them straight out where we need them."
The MoD is committed to providing a robust and effective system of resettlement and career transition support, with all Service leavers receiving some help, for up to two years either side of their discharge date. The types of benefits Service leavers can access include: grants, allowances, travel warrants, resettlement leave, transition workshops, one-to-one career guidance support, subsidised vocational training support, housing advice, financial briefs and employment support. Lt Cdr
Mark Walker, from the MoD's training, education, skills and resettlement staff, said: "We are delighted that Openreach has recognised the talent, skills and versatility of our Service leavers, especially targeting them for recruitment. We strongly welcome this initiative, and its promise of rewarding employment and career opportunities for many former armed forces personnel."
