Online grocery technology firm Ocado Technology will create 500 new technology jobs following a £1 billion investment round.
The majority of the new roles will be software engineers and product managers located around European development centres.
The company confirmed that a "significant" number of these roles will be based at its recently launched London site, which announced 260 new jobs in July 2019.
During a four week period in April and May, a record £1.2 billion pounds was spent on buying online groceries, according to Nielsen. Ocado believes this demand will continue and as such, companies will accelerate the launch of their own online offerings to meet the increased demand.
Ocado Technology builds physical and digital technology for online grocery deliveries for itself and Morrisons in the UK, and a number of retailers around Europe. This includes Groupe Casino in France, ICA in Sweden and Bon Preu in Spain. The firm also operates in the US, Canada and Australia, with the Ocado Smart Platform launching soon in Japan, in partnership with Aeon.
The company's tech arm is looking to hire technologists in a variety of roles in web and app development, data science, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, smart optimisation, discrete event simulation, automation and robotics.
"The online grocery market in the UK has grown the same amount in the last 3 months as it had in the previous twenty years, and adoption of our platform, OSP, is accelerating too," said Isabel Richards, head of Ocado's UK development centres.
"Our engineers work on some of the most exciting challenges at the intersection of software and robotic hardware, which are truly making a difference to people's everyday lives. There are huge opportunities across the board for talented technologists to really change the way the world shops."
-
Cleo attack victim list grows as Hertz confirms customer data stolenNews Hertz has confirmed it suffered a data breach as a result of the Cleo zero-day vulnerability in late 2024, with the car rental giant warning that customer data was stolen.
-
Lateral moves in tech: Why leaders should support employee mobilityIn-depth Encouraging staff to switch roles can have long-term benefits for skills in the tech sector
-
How to empower employees to accelerate emissions reductionin depth With ICT accounting for as much as 3% of global carbon emissions, the same as aviation, the industry needs to increase emissions reduction
-
Worldwide IT spending to grow 4.3% in 2023, with no significant AI impactNews Spending patterns have changed as companies take an inward focus
-
Report: Female tech workers disproportionately affected by industry layoffsNews Layoffs continue to strike companies throughout the tech industry, with data showing females in both the UK and US are bearing the brunt of them more so than males
-
How can small businesses cope with inflation?Tutorial With high inflation increasing the cost of doing business, how can small businesses weather the storm?
-
How to deal with inflation while undergoing digital transformationIn-depth How can organizations stave off inflation while attempting to grow by digitally transforming their businesses?
-
How businesses can use technology to fight inflation
TUTORIAL While technology can’t provide all the answers to fight rising inflation, it can help ease the pain on businesses in the long term
-
Embattled WANdisco to cut 30% of workforce amid fraud scandalNews The layoffs follow the shock resignation of the company’s CEO and CFO in early April
-
Some Tech Nation programs could continue after Founders Forum acquisitionNews The acquisition brings to a close a months-long saga over what the future holds for Tech Nation initiatives
