Huawei are to announce tomorrow investment in the UK that could total up to £1.2 billion. The Chinese telecoms giant is pledging to create at least 700 jobs in the UK over the next 5 years which will mean a direct investment of some £600 million.
A further £600 million will come from procurement activity originating from the direct investment.
The company has seen investment blocked in countries such as India, Australia and the US blocked by governments which have voiced fears that the Chinese company could be aiding cyber-attacks on technological infrastructure elsewhere in the world however this announcement is expected to be endorsed by the Prime Minister David Cameron.
Huawei already operates in the UK in the form of a Cyber Security Evaluation Centre based in Oxfordshire which works closely with GCHQ to ensure the integrity of the equipment it sells in Britain. They now plan to tie in with british universities through a series of internship programmes as well as planning a design centre in London.
Huawei is the worlds largest telecoms manufacturer and is privately owned by 65,000 of its 140,000 employees.
They can create the jobs, filling them with staff that will stay on a long term basis IS another story. They have a massive retention issue when it comes to Western workers as they expect (impose) Eastern style work ethics. This suits the high numbers of staff they bring over on short term 3 month working visas from the home nation, where they are happy to work 18 hr days, eat and sleep at their desks. It doesn’t seem to go down well with most others. Like not working 7 days a week…
They have also been know to hire under false pretences, ie, by saying they will open an office in the North of the country and state this in contracts. Once staff sign and start, they go through their induction down in Bassingstoke, never to go anywhere else but there or customer offices in the vicinity. When questioned, they point to the door.
They hired KMPG to try to improve their image on this side of the globe and make it look an attractive place to work. If I were them, I’d be asking for their money back,
that doesn’t sound too good….if this is the case then I’d certainly look to do an editorial around it.