Region to be boosted by thousands of tech jobs

Greater Manchester is set to be boosted by 3,000 new tech jobs, the CEO of Manchester City Council has announced.

Joanne Roney told an audience at a Conservative Party Conference fringe event that several announcements are expected be made this week revealing the new jobs for the region.

It is understood US streaming giant, Roku, is opening a new technical and engineering operation in Manchester.

The company, which has been valued at $45bn, will be taking on people in software roles in the city over the next few years.

A third of those jobs will also come from PwC, which is opening its national tech hub in its Manchester office at No1 Spinningfields and expects to create 1,000 jobs over the next three years.

The hub will develop new products and assets for use by the consulting giant across its offices as well as providing support for its clients.

And more tech jobs are on the way with a further announcement due to be made soon.

“We do know that we’re expecting 3,000 digital jobs,” said Joanne Roney.

“The reason we get that level of success is because we work hard to create the talent pool and the ecosystem in digital industries.”

Andy Burnham spoke about the role of innovation in levelling-up

Joanne was part of a panel alongside Mayor Andy Burnham discussing how a place-based approach involving businesses, academia, science and local government can accelerate the region’s economic vision and deliver on levelling up as part of Innovation GM – the region’s £7bn innovation blueprint for the city region.