GM hiring 1,000 information technology workers in Ariz.

General Motors plans to hire 1,000 information technology employees for a new office in Chandler, Ariz., as part of its effort to bring such work back into the company instead of using outside contractors.

Last year, the automaker said it would reverse that trend by having 90 percent of its information technology work done internally in three to five years.

"We're actually ahead on the [information technology] innovation centers," Randy Mott, GM’s chief information officer, told journalists during a conference call today. "It doesn't mean that we don't still have a long way to go because we do, but these are kind of the key ingredients to allow us to do that."

GM also expects to hire more than 3,000 more information technology workers to staff its three other new centers in Warren, Mich.; Roswell, Ga.; and Austin, Texas. GM’s current information technology staff level is 5,500 employees, “on the way to 9,000” when the move is complete, Mott said.

GM, in a statement today, said it chose innovation centers where information technology talent is prevalent in areas that offer a strong community, lower cost of living and a high-tech industry presence.

Mott said GM will focus on students majoring in information technology at higher-education institutions -- including UCLA, the University of Southern California, University of Arizona, Arizona State University and Stanford University -- within a three-hour drive of one of the centers.

Combined, the four centers have access to more than 7,000 information technology students at more than 150 colleges and universities. GM, which has not disclosed the cost of its plans, is aiming for 30 to 35 percent of the hires to be recent college graduates.

“I believe having the right combination of students and employees really puts us in a position for the right kind of energy level on both professional and IT sides,” Mott said. “To hire the best and brightest, we need to create employment opportunities that differentiate our company from the competition -- location is one such advantage,” he added.

Starting April 1, GM will open a temporary center and begin hiring in Phoenix until the building in Chandler opens by the first quarter of 2014.

GM said last year that it would consolidate 23 data centers worldwide to just two, both in Michigan. The first center opened in Warren, and Mott said the second location could be in Milford.