Defence company Thales has won an outsourcing deal with the welfare-to-work scheme, Working Links.

The contract will include providing an IT network for all Working Links’s IT infrastructure, including a series of internet cafés.

Working Links is a public/private partnership backed by Jobcentre Plus, Manpower, Cap Gemini and Ernst & Young. It operates in eight of the country’s 15 employment zones, which provide jobs for people in deprived areas.

Keith Faulkner CBE, managing director of Working Links, said: “We are pleased to have Thales on board and look forward to a strong partnership over the next five years.”

Tim Porter, UK chief executive of Thales Information Systems, added: “We look forward to helping Working Links as they continue to deliver life-changing experiences to jobseekers across the country.”