Brennan to add another 400 new faces over next twelve months
Citing increased demand, a planned recruitment drive will see locally-grown Brennan add a further 400 professionals to its headcount over the next twelve months.
Thumbing its nose to the economic headwinds, Australian IT services and consulting firm Brennan has declared a massive upcoming hiring spree, with 400 new positions to be added in the coming year.
Still fresh off its $23 million purchase of MOQdigital, that deal together with the intended recruitment drive will see Brennan more than double its headcount in under eighteen months, to around 1,400 professionals across Australia.
Having launched a new ‘Digital’ division late last year on the back of its MOQdigital acquisition, the firm is now on the lookout for data and artificial intelligence technicians, cyber professionals, software developers and principal consultants, with around a quarter of the new roles to be filled over the next three months.
Brennan is also looking to increase its presence in Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, with potential new office launches in Canberra and Hobart to come.
Established by managing director Dave Stevens in Sydney in 1997, Brennan quickly added outlets in Melbourne and Brisbane, and has since established four offshore service delivery centres across the subcontinent and the Philippines where around 30 percent of its staff are based. A Deloitte Technology Fast 50 entry in 2004, the firm is now pushing $300 million in revenues, and describes itself as the largest locally-owned business of its kind.
Brennan, however, continues to eye a potential initial public offering on the ASX in order to fund its growth ambitions through further large-sized acquisitions. Speaking with the Australian Financial Review, Stevens stated that the company had no urgent need to IPO, but added that there are clear benefits to being listed, and wanted to be IPO-ready when the markets opened again if that “was our next best move at that point.”
Stevens further noted that the recruitment drive was necessary to meet increasing demand from clients looking to leverage technology in response to current challenges. “Ironically, we are growing at a greater pace in the tough economic climate, as many customers want to increase productivity or reduce costs,” Stevens stated. “They are looking for technology partners who can either run their important digital assets for them or drive digital change.”
Further reading: 10 charts on Australia’s fast growing technology sector.
Still, some of Brennan’s larger international competitors are currently downsizing their staff numbers – most notably KPMG with around 200 local job cuts – or have at least slowed their hiring rates. One exception is PwC, which has been busy expanding its presence in northern Australia and is also looking to boost numbers at its Skilled Service Hub in Adelaide, with 40 percent of PwC employees now working in tech-related roles.
