Accenture eyes Lot Fourteen after boosting local workforce to more than 300

Consulting giant Accenture has boosted its local workforce to more than 300 since opening its Adelaide Hub – and there’s hundreds more jobs in the pipeline.

Consulting giant Accenture is considering a potential move into the Lot Fourteen innovation hub on North Tce after growing its local workforce to more than 300 just a year since opening a new Adelaide Hub.

The aerospace, defence and cyber-security focused technology centre, based in Kent Town, has exceeded its employment target according to Accenture Australia and New Zealand operations lead Jordan Griffiths, with more than 300 specialists consulting in areas including cyber-security, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence.

Marking its first year of operations, Mr Griffiths said the company was on track to becoming one of the state’s largest employers, with plans to boost its local workforce to 1500 over the next three years and 2000 over the next five years.

“Over the last year we’ve hired a lot of people relocating to South Australia for the career opportunities and lifestyle, and particularly during the Covid uncertainty a lot of people have been wanting to return from different states,” he said.

Accenture business and integration architecture analyst Lauren Springer, left, and application development analyst Bella Santiago at the Adelaide Hub in Kent Town. Picture: Emma Brasier.

“We have a number of roles open and we’re attracting a diverse workforce. At last count, 36 per cent of our team were female – one of the best gender ratios for our sector.

“In more technical skill areas we know that it’s inherent that there’s a lower female take-up but we’re committed to getting to getting as close to 50/50 as possible.”

With more than 50 Accenture clients across Australia and New Zealand currently serviced out of the Adelaide Hub, Mr Griffiths said the company was considering a number of locations to potentially expand into, including Lot Fourteen.

“The South Australian government and Premier have been really structured and controlled in luring advanced technology, cyber-security and being number one for defence and aerospace,” he said.

“With that clarity it’s easy for industry and companies like Accenture to really get behind that.”

Accenture is currently looking to recruit for a number of roles, including in cyber-security, automation and artificial intelligence, as well as specialists using platforms including Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Splunk and Salesforce.

The company has also partnered with the University of South Australia to launch a new digital business degree next year.

Mr Griffiths said about 250 students would form part of the first cohort, and there would be opportunities for them to transition to employment with Accenture once they’ve graduated.

“Some skills have been really easy to find and some have taken a little bit longer - operations skills with the know how to operate shared services and other things like that are a little bit more challenging,” he said.

“We have established a partnership with UniSA and a part of that is really about getting more demand from undergraduates in the skills we’re looking for.”

Lauren Springer, 22, recently relocated from Western Australia to joint Accenture’s Adelaide team as a business and integration architecture analyst.

She said the technology scene was “buzzing” in Adelaide, with development of Lot Fourteen and the launch of the new space agency, as well as a burgeoning eco-system of start-ups and tech firms.

“Since I moved here I’ve been really plugged into the whole innovation network that has started in Adelaide – we have access to super smart people,” she said.

“Adelaide has the kind of talent and vision you’d expect to find in a major tech city, but it also has the atmosphere and friendliness that you just could never get in the east coast cities. It’s really exciting to know that I get to have a global tech career right here in Adelaide.”