Cisco looks to hire 300 computer science grads
Posted Jan 26, 2012 By Blair Edwards
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EMC News - Cisco Canada plans to do a little hiring over the coming year.
Blair Edwards, Metroland
Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi tours the Cisco Canada building and checks out the company's new video teleconferencing technology in Kanata on Thursday, Jan. 19.
The technology company is looking to fill 300 full-time research and development jobs to help Cisco expand its next-generation technology for Internet routing, broadband internet and communications software.
Two hundred of those jobs will be filled at the company's site in Kanata north, located on Innovation Drive. The rest will be located in Toronto.
"Ontario provides an excellent environment for technology innovators," said Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco Canada.
"Ontario had all the attributes we look for - access to skilled engineering graduates, a stable and predictable economy, and an excellent combination of research tax credits and government investment that supports innovation."
Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi was on hand to check out some of Cisco's cutting-edge video teleconferencing technology - as well as meet some of the company's interns and recent hires - on Thursday, Jan. 19.
He participated in a joint Ottawa-Toronto teleconference using Cisco's TelePresence Callway technology - talking with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who spoke from Cisco's office in Toronto.
The Ontario government signed a memorandum of understanding last year, committing $25 million to support the company's effort to create 300 new research and development jobs in Ottawa and Toronto.
"We need to do everything we can to create good-paying jobs in the province," said Naqvi.
Naqvi said he was impressed with Cisco's TelePresence technology.
"We're used to doing teleconferencing by telephone, so we're not used to seeing the person," he said.
"This is my first time experiencing TelePresence."
The video teleconferencing technology is a billion-dollar business for Cisco, said Ritch Dusome, the company's director of product marketing.
"It's going to explode," he said, following a demonstration of the technology to the premier and Naqvi on Thursday at the Kanata office. "You can do it right from your desk top."
Kim Devooght, vice-president of Cisco's public sector Canada, said the video teleconferencing technology was created to help businesses and governments create remote offices.
Workers can interact electronically by holding video teleconferencing meetings, which can go mobile using tablets, similar to the RIM Playbook and Apple iPad.
The company said it's looking for computer science graduates and is actively recruiting in Ontario universities such as the University of Toronto, the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and University of Waterloo.
The company said it wants to fill all 300 positions by the end of the year.
blair.edwards@metroland.com
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