Today’s official opening of the UXC Service Desk Centre of Excellence in Tasmania is a sign of the soaring business confidence in Tasmania.
Australia’s largest publicly-owned IT services company announced last year that it selected Tasmania as its preferred location to expand its operations, in partnership with the State Government.
To ensure UXC expanded into Hobart the Government agreed to provide $1.7 million over five years to establish the new centre and provide pay roll tax assistance.
This agreement not only stopped the existing 12 jobs from being moved offshore, but importantly it allowed UXC to create 50 new full time jobs at the new Service Deck Centre of Excellence.
Since, 10 new full time jobs have been created and filled by Tasmanians, including a number of TasTAFE ICT graduates, and the new office has been established at Kirksway Place with the assistance of the Department of State Growth.
UXC has advised that approximately 30 staff will be working in the new office by March, when the centre begins 24/7 operations, with the workforce to double to more than 60 by the end of 2016.
It is a testament to Tasmania’s Information and Communication Technology sector that UXC selected our state to expand its operations.
As a Government we are committed to attracting new investment and jobs to Tasmania and this was a huge opportunity for economic growth and jobs in the rapidly expanding industry.
This will also give new-comers to the fast growing industry a foot in the door to their future career in ICT with an exciting new partnership between TasTAFE and UXC.
TasTAFE and UXC are working together to enable ICT Certificate 4 and Diploma students to undertake practical training at UXC as part of their study.
This will not only give students important hands on training, but also allow them to create a network of contacts within the industry.
This year, as a Government we are sharpening our focus on working with industries to ensure job seekers have the best skills to match job opportunities in areas of growth, like the ICT sector.
With the budget is back on track and heading for surplus next financial year, three years ahead of schedule, we can now reinvest the dividends of our hard work into the core services of Government, like skills, education, health and the vulnerable.
More Media Releases from Michael Ferguson
More Media Releases from the Minister for Information Technology and Innovation