The Voice of Tech: Who We Are, What We Want to Say
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see inside one of the biggest tech companies in the world? Well, we're starting a new series of blogs to give you the insight you've never had before. Akamai's innovations take place behind the scenes, keeping the Internet safe and delivering digital content for some of the world's largest companies.
We decided it was time to introduce who we really are, and what it's like to work here to our curious readers. At Akamai, we are fascinated with you, our readers. So, we want to share our stories with you, to show you what it's like to shape the digital world. It started with an idea, born out of two extraordinary technological minds, and now we hone and launch the careers of the next generation of brilliant minds. We hope to inspire you with our experiences, challenges, and successes. In response, we hope you'll reach out to us and let us know what you think.
What does Akamai do?
At Akamai, we provide and improve user experiences on every form of modern technology from mobile devices, to computers, Wi-Fi and video games. Think about your favorite large-scale events, such as the World Cup. You may not realize it, but those events can be streamed seamlessly because of Akamai Technologies. Your information, when playing games online, is secure from hackers because we have already mitigated potential vulnerabilities. We are the backbone of the Internet, behind the big things, as well as the smaller things that you do daily, such as digitally keeping in touch with your family. We make these things happen quickly and securely without you even noticing. We pride ourselves on the fact that, at any point, we deliver up to 30% of the world's web traffic.
Akamai as an employer
We are a leading global employer. We've been named a "best employer for diversity" by Forbes and been featured among the "top 10 for employer brand" by Hired. Over the last year, we have worked to communicate the employee experience more efficiently. Our commitment to accountability is firmly established in our core values, with inclusivity established as an individual principle.
At Akamai we are proud to create opportunities, enabling talent from all backgrounds to pursue a career in tech. We are committed to this both internally and in the community through our social outreach programs such as Girls Who Code and our Akamai Technical Academy (ATA). Our ATA program is a 12-month classroom and on-the-job training program which prepares participants for an entry-level role at Akamai. Having experienced another successful year in the program, we have graduated 22 participants from the 5.0 class, of whom 16 went on to be hired as permanent employees. We also launched 2 more classes, including our first in Costa Rica. As of 2018, we have appointed a total of 84 ATA participants as full-time employees, with 36 more eligible are to convert later this year.
As well as this, we will launch our Akamai People Experience Career Expo in 2019. This is an event designed to support our employees with the resources and tools they need to develop their career while networking with peers and managers. Our aim is to source and nurture the talent of the future because we believe that tech should be accessible to everyone.
Most recently, on January 28th, 2019, we launched our brand-new employee program Akalades. Akalades is a rewards and recognition program which gives our employees the opportunity to recognize their colleagues who go above and beyond, as well as be rewarded themselves. We believe that a collaborative workforce cultivates success and enables us to realize our vision of being one Akamai.
We dedicate significant time and resources into our company culture and employee wellbeing so that employees can build a long-term career at Akamai. We provide a counter to the millennial trend of job hopping, providing internal career development programs thereby creating an environment which supports internal movement. We are motivated not just by what we do, but by the people we employ.
What we want to say
So, through this series of blogs, we will be telling you more about our internal culture. We'll be conducting interviews and putting the spotlight on our people, such as the women in network security. We will also be giving you our ideas of how to raise young people to be tech confident, as well as sharing our thoughts on the future of technology.
We have so much to celebrate, having turned 20 in 2018, but also so much to look forward to. Therefore, we feel there has never been a better time for us to launch this blog series. After all, there is no time like the present. By sharing the voices of our employees with you, we hope to draw you into the Akamai community, excite you, and motivate you to pursue your tech vision. We believe tech is universal; by its nature, it is not exclusive. On that note, we welcome you to join us on this journey.
