IT consultancy Auticon expands into Toronto with Deloitte collaboration
Auticon, a global consulting firm which employs autistic IT professionals, has expanded into Toronto through a collaboration with Deloitte Canada. An initial deployment of six to ten Auticon employees will support Deloitte clients in the areas of quality assurance and testing, data science, and extract, transform and load services.
Founded in Berlin in 2011, Auticon was created to support adults on the autism spectrum, who often have higher education in STEM fields but can find it difficult to secure or maintain employment. According to a CBC News report, the unemployment rate for autistic adults is 86%.
Auticon pairs its IT consultants with job coaches who provide a compassionate management style to help them succeed. The social impact-centred company has expanded across Europe, the US, and Canada, and as of 2018 had a workforce of 200, including 150 adults on the autism spectrum.
The company – which offers services in software development, data analysis, quality assurance, and automation engineering, among other areas – expanded into Canada last year with the launch of an office in Montreal. Auticon followed that by acquiring the IT consulting division of Meticulon, a Calgary IT firm with a similar emphasis on employing autistic adults.
The Deloitte collaboration will extend Auticon’s operations into Toronto, which was named North America’s fastest-growing technology market in 2018 by CBRE.
“Focusing on abilities, rather than disabilities, gives us access to the best talent so that we can serve our clients better,” said Ken Fredeen, general counsel, Deloitte. “Joining forces with Auticon to bring highly skilled technical resources to our clients' projects is a win-win-win proposition. It just makes good business sense and is the right thing to do.”
Roland Labuhn, digital practice partner at Deloitte, commented that the consulting firm aims to eventually hire at least 50 skilled employees on the autism spectrum to deepen “cultural and neurodiversity.”
"Auticon's ongoing mission is to create sustainable careers for the vast numbers of underemployed, highly gifted adults on the autism spectrum," said Garth Johnson, CEO of Auticon Canada. "We are delighted to work with Deloitte who shares our belief that the autism advantage for business is real and measurable."
