Atos commits to supporting the Armed Forces

Former Regular Infantry NCO veteran Rob Stiff was a proud onlooker as his employer, digital services group Atos, pledged support for the Armed Forces community in a special ceremony at The Tank Museum, Bovington.

Joe Hemming, Chief Operating Officer of Atos UK and Ireland signed the Corporate Covenant alongside Lieutenant Colonel John Godfrey, commanding officer of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, a South West-based Army Reserve armoured unit with a Squadron at Old Sarum.

The agreement will see Atos commit to the Corporate Covenant, supporting the Armed Forces community in a number of ways, including offering jobs to young, old and injured veterans across the UK.

The agreement commits Atos to a range of initiatives such as promoting Atos as an Armed Forces-friendly organisation and supporting the employment of veterans.

Rob, 38, is an ex Regular Infantry NCO and now a Troop Corporal in the Royal Wessex Yeomanry who has spent over 21 years in uniform both in the UK and overseas including Afghanistan, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Canada, Botswana, Jamaica and Belize.

Rob joined Atos three years ago as a senior project manager. He said: “I can regularly work from home which has been excellent as it gives me a balance between work and home life which I didn’t have before.

“I have received so much support from Atos as I have been put through quite a few training programmes and I have already progressed within the company.  As a result of this I get much more responsibility and now get to deliver bigger projects.”

On the agreement, Mr Hemming added: “The commitment and dedication shown to our country by the Armed Forces is incredible and, as a business, we want to do all we can at Atos to support them in their future career.

“Men and women in the Armed Forces Community have done so much to defend our country. Atos want to show appreciation for all they have done by providing them with opportunities to make a new start while still having the flexibility to be involved in the Armed Forces.”

Lieutenant Colonel John Godfery, commanding officer at The Royal Wessex Yeomanry said: “It is vitally important that we recognise those who lay their lives on the line in the service of their Country and do everything possible to assist them to help us. It is both exciting and rewarding to see Atos UK leading the way in acknowledging the immense benefits that Reservists and former service personnel can bring to the private sector and therefore a genuine honour to co-sign Atos UK’s Corporate Covenant with them at The Tank Museum today.”

Through the Corporate Covenant, Atos will be supporting the employment of young, old and injured veterans with the Career Transition Partnership and Recovery Career Services.

Atos will endeavour to support spouses in the workforce, by offering a degree of flexibility in the working environment and granting leave before, during and after a partner’s deployment. Employees who decide to become members of the Reserve Forces will be accommodated in their training and deployment and granted additional paid leave to attend training courses.

Atos will also be an active participant in Armed Forces Day on 27 June as well as London Poppy Day on 8 November, which the company has previously supported, contributing towards the phenomenal £1.25million raised in 2014.

In upholding the principles of the Corporate Covenant, Atos will be attending several of the military sponsored job fairs where members of the Armed Forces can find out what opportunities are available within the organisation.

Atos has recently been awarded a bronze Employer Recognition Award by the MOD for all their collective work in support of Armed forces related issues.

For further information please speak to:

Jackie McColl
0141 221 0707/ 0771 065 1973
jmccoll@3×1.com

Karen Halley
0141 221 0707/ 07841128150
khalley@3×1.com

About Atos

Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a Global digital services leader with 2014 pro forma annual revenue of circa € 10 billion and 83,000 employees in 66 countries. Serving a global client base, the Group provides Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry.

With its deep technology expertise and industry knowledge, the Group works with clients across different business sectors: Defense, Financial Services, Health, Manufacturing, Media, Utilities, Public sector, Retail, Telecommunications, and Transportation.

Atos is focused on business technology that powers progress and helps organisations to create their firm of the future. The Group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and is listed on the Euronext Paris market. Atos operates under the brands Atos, Atos Consulting, Atos Worldgrid, Bull, Canopy, and Worldline

About the Corporate Covenant

The Corporate Covenant has been designed to complement the Armed Forces Covenant and sit alongside the Community Covenant. The Armed Forces Covenant sets out the moral obligation of society towards members of the armed forces community and the Community Covenant provides a mechanism for local authorities and communities to express support for members of the armed forces community. The Corporate Covenant is designed to allow businesses and charitable organisations to express their support, and commit to ways in which they can provide that support.

All Corporate Covenants include a core statement of commitment that those adopting the scheme sign up to. This covers the 2 key principles of the armed forces covenant, which are:

• no member of the armed forces community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
• in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate, especially for the injured or bereaved

Organisations are also able to pledge to support the Armed Forces community in ways most appropriate to their situation and capacity.