Slalom to bulk up Aussie ranks with 200 jobs over two years

The company kicked off its Australian expansion at the beginning of the year in Melbourne

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Four months after opening up shop in Australia, US-headquartered business, strategy and IT consulting firm Slalom is set to bulk up its ranks with roughly 200 local jobs on offer over the next two years.

As reported by ARN in January, Slalom hired former Accenture Asia Pacific technology lead Michael Shimota as Australia country manager to head up its local operation, kicking off the company’s Aussie entry in Melbourne, where Shimota is based.

Now, the US$1.5 billion company has revealed it plans to generate roughly 200 new jobs locally over the next two years as it builds out its business and technology transformation consulting services offering in the Australian market.

The company is set to open a new Sydney office and will launch a custom-fit Melbourne office space later this year. The Melbourne space will also house a Slalom Build Center to help customers co-create modern software and technology products.

"The Build Centers are a key component of this expansion,” Mike Cowden, Slalom Build president, said. “We've created a new category for cloud-native software and product engineering called Build as a Service.

“We've seen immense success with this model in the US, and plan to bring what we've learned to Australia working with enterprises, government, and mid-market companies. With a team of highly skilled builders, Slalom's Melbourne office will help local businesses build modern software for the future."

With its move to Australia, Slalom claims to have expanded its footprint to all major markets across the world, with 8,400 employees in over 35 markets.

While most of those markets are spread across the US, the company claims a handful of offices in Europe, Canada and Japan, in addition to Australia.

"The Australian market is extremely compelling right now,” Slalom founder and CEO John Tobin said. "With the current business and tech boom, and despite the current situation, there is huge potential for growth and transformation, for Australia-grown and international companies alike.

“We believe the time is right to bring our unique consulting approach to these businesses. And being one hundred percent private and employee-owned, Slalom is well positioned to navigate the current economic reality, taking a long-term view of the launch in Australia."

In January, Slalom said in a statement that expanding into Australia was an exciting step for the company, suggesting that its approach to consulting was an ideal fit for the strategy, technology, and business transformation needs of Australian companies.

“We're working closely with global partners like AWS and Salesforce to make a rapid impact,” the company said. “With a commitment to helping every person love their work and life, we look forward to helping more companies realise the full potential of the cloud, build modern cultures of data, connect deeply with customers, and develop game-changing new technology product.”

Shimota, an Accenture veteran of more than two decades, said in a Q&A published on the firm’s website at the time that, 10 years from now, he hoped Slalom Australia will be a top consultancy, offering a full suite of modern consulting services to enterprise, government, and mid-market clients.