Vodafone looks for 7,000 software engineers across Europe

Business news | October 21, 2021

By Nick Flaherty

Vodafone aims to add 7,000 software engineers by 2025 to double the size of its pan-European Technology business.

Vodafone Technology already has 9,000 staff working on digital development and the growth will be through a combination of recruitment, re-skilling existing employees and insourcing. They will develop new Internet of things (IoT) products, smart network features, digital & IT, and cyber security services across Europe and Africa.

Vodafone also recently established Vodafone Engineering to encourage the re-use of code and promotes the sharing of best practice on forums such as GitHub, Stack and Overflow.

The move is part of Vodafone’s increased investment to meet surging demand for digital connectivity, which is growing by up to 50% every year, and has been accelerated by the pandemic. By bringing more software skills in-house, Vodafone is aiming to change from a traditional telecommunications company to a digital services provider.

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In the financial year ending March 2021, Vodafone Technology invested €1.3bn on developing new digital products and services, and €1bn on its own digital transformation. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Vodafone also spent €2.6bn on extending the reach and growing the capacity of its gigabit mobile and fixed pan-European networks. In addition, €0.9 billion was spent on providing customers the latest equipment such as high-end broadband routers, and €2.1bn went towards maintaining networks and IT systems.

Expanding its software capabilities will allow Vodafone to build differentiated products and services at lower cost and own the intellectual property (IP) rather than sourcing them through suppliers. Insourcing expertise generates savings of 20 percent, on average, for Vodafone.

“Vodafone is rapidly shifting up the gears to support the dramatic digital transformation that businesses and society are undergoing. We are building a global software brand with a diverse and inclusive culture, providing superfast connectivity and powerful digital products – however and wherever customers want to use them,” said Johan Wibergh, Chief Technology Officer of Vodafone.

By 2025, over half of all employees within Vodafone Technology will work in software engineering. Vodacom, part of Vodafone Group, is also adopting a similar strategy through the extension of digital and financial services across Africa.

There will also be a technical career path to recognise and develop technology experts into senior roles within Vodafone. Following pilots this autumn, the Vodafone Technical Career Path will expand its coverage, initially bringing into scope up to 7,000 existing employees by April 2022.

The company has just appointed its first Fellow, Santiago ‘Yago’ Tenorio, Director of Network Architecture at Vodafone, a part of this.

Vodafone is building new platforms by drawing on the strength of its own IoT platform, which can be scaled to support one billion devices in 180 markets and handle 1.7 billion API calls or sessions per month. In Africa, Vodacom operates the largest financial services platform with 61 million users. Vodafone is also developing adjacent platforms beyond core fixed and mobile connectivity as the Network as a Platform (NaaP).

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