Still Think Blockchain is a Fad: IBM Hiring 1,800 Positions in France for DLT, AI and IoT

IBM is in need of fresh faces, and their new projects in France is where they are starting. In a statement, the company stated that they would be hiring over 1,800 new employees in their France offices, where they will be required to help with projects that involve blockchain. Their scope of work will also include artificial intelligence projects, internet of things, and cloud computing projects.

The announcement comes as IBM’s executives held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. President Macron also took the time to associate with other major players in the tech industry, which included Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Brian Krzanich of Intel, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and others.

If workers follow the statement from Reuters, the company is only planning to hire 1,400 workers, but the CEO of IBM, Virginia Rometty, corrected this statement. She told Le Monde (a French media agency) that the actual goal is to reach 1,800 people, adding onto their approximate 380,000-employee corporation around the world. Either way, the group of new hires will need to be well-versed in blockchain to keep up with the demands of IBM.

In her statement to Le Monde, Rometty said,

“In the next two years, we will hire 1,800 people in France at IBM. In January, we announced a project to recruit 400 people for research. These jobs will relate to artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things. We want to make France a center of excellence dedicated to artificial intelligence.” She continued on to say, “IBM collaborates with major clients such as Crédit Mutuel, Orange Bank, Generali, SNCF or LVMH. These examples show that France is doing a good job at being the driving force in AI.”

On May 23^rd, 2018, Rometty held a one-on-one meeting with Nadella and Macron. This was before the “Tech for Good” workshop that took place with Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, and other major tech brands. In a report last week, Cryptovest reported that IBM was also getting into a business relationship with Veridium Labs, which is an environmental startup.