Jenny Tingle, Prospect negotiations officer said:

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Openreach and a great boost for Prospect members - more engineers means a bigger and hopefully more responsive organisation that will need the effective management skills our members can provide.

“There is a pressing need for more investment and training in science, technology, engineering and maths roles. This type of initiative, which serves many areas of the country and aims to recruit a diverse range of people, is exactly what Prospect has been encouraging employers and government to put in place.

“Prospect will be discussing the impact of this new increase workload on manager allocations with BT.”