CGI has created over 700 jobs at its U.S. Onshore Delivery Center, a facility located in Lafayette, Louisiana that is dedicated to offering technology employment opportunities for local and former residents of the Acadiana region as well as others nationwide.
The center, which was established in 2014, has built a workforce that supports both public and private sector clients with digital modernization initiatives, the Montreal, Canada-based company said Thursday.
Don Pierson, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, noted that this number significantly exceeded the predicted 400 jobs.
“CGI is a shining example of higher-education partnerships, business assistance programs and specialized workforce training combining to fuel technology sector expansion. The result is a rapidly diversifying state economy that is empowering our citizens with high-paying jobs, new skills and new opportunities for professional and personal success,” said Pierson.
Lafayette Economic Development Authority President and CEO Mandi Mitchell said that the jobs created by CGI have had a “transformative impact” on the wider Acadiana region by serving to uplift and “diversify the local business base.”
Within CGI’s hiring endeavors, approximately 35 percent are selected through a college recruiting program and over 25 percent have relocated to the area from outside Louisiana. The enterprise has identified over 60 open positions at the center in which new payroll has passed projections for the eighth consecutive year.
Alongside these efforts, the Lafayette center has cultivated a partnership with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which includes CGI’s Project Based Learning Program. The course provides real-world learning opportunities for the university’s computer science and informatics students by tasking students with finding a technical solution for a business outcome.
Under the initiative, which represents Louisiana’s first software developer apprenticeship program, CGI provides three to five months of technical training before a one-year period of on-the-job experience. The completion of 2,000 apprenticeship hours paves a pathway for many graduates to pursue consulting positions at the organization.
“Additional collaborations between the University and CGI have strengthened and advanced our mission of research and innovation and have created extraordinary opportunities – and definite results – for the broader region we are both fortunate to serve,” said Joseph Savoie, president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
William LaBar, vice president of consulting services at CGI, highlighted the company’s enduring commitment to grow the job market in Acadiana and maintain its standing as a positive workplace for local students and professionals.