Leading Microsoft Business Solutions specialist, Corefocus, have announced plans for business expansion and have pledged to support computer sciences skills within the local information technology industry.
The growth marks a significant period of enhancement for Corefocus who aim to establish a 50 percent expansion within the next 12 months. This equates to the creation of three new jobs for the sector. The planned expansion correlates with the success Corefocus is experiencing in the market place and highlights the increasing demand for expertise within the local IT industry.
By investing in people, the company aims to provide opportunities for local individuals as a prime example of how the industry can support local talent to excel in the industry. Currently, the team are looking for a Senior Application Developer as well as a Junior Application Developer and Intern to join their team.
The Senior Application Developer will have a prominent role in designing and building custom business applications within Microsoft Dynamics for companies throughout the Channel Islands. The Junior Application Developer will assist in the development of applications and business processes for a range of Jersey enterprises and have the opportunity to gain formal technical development training.
The internship opportunity will be offered to one local computer sciences undergraduate. This scheme will provide paid summer work experience, as well as scholarship funding for an undergraduate of particular promise, of up to £2,000, to assist with final year university costs.
Jersey, in common with many other jurisdictions, has a skills gap when it comes to digital and technology workers. Speaking at a business lunch at the Grand Jersey at the start of 2015, Tony Moretta, the chief executive of Digital Jersey, suggested that more workers with digital skills might need to be brought into the Island. Few students in Jersey are studying computing in sixth form or further education. It has been found that the degrees strongly aligned to the needs of the digital economy: Engineering and Technology, Computer Science and Mathematical Science, are taken by only six percent of the total number of Jersey students that undertake level six degrees. This equates to just 27 local students out of an average of 415 that graduate every year.
Further to this, Digital Jersey has estimated that an average of just 14 graduates with computer technology related degrees would be working in Jersey five years on from graduation. This assumption is derived by combined data from an FOI request on Returnee Graduates and data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency on degrees studied by student’s country of origin. From this data we can assume that 56% of graduates that undertook their degree on Island or abroad will be working in Jersey five years after graduating (based on the average of those graduating between 2006 and 2010), and that of the average year group only 25 undergraduate students will graduate from mathematics, computer science or engineering and technology-related degrees. This constraint of skills is particularly harmful to the growth of the digital industry as subject specific graduates are essential to enable technology businesses to innovate at the same speed as technology itself.
By providing junior and internship opportunities, Corefocus has pledged to lead the industry in up-skilling local talent, as well as promoting the Computer Sciences industry to prospective students who have the power to equip Jersey with the skills it requires.
Matt van Sanden, Managing Director, Corefocus, says:
‘We are very excited at the prospect of expanding our team. The new positions will allow us to meet the demand of the growing industry and remain at the forefront of business applications.
These days a lot of companies have staff that are experienced in a particular area, but are not IT software specialists. This is where we come in, and our team needs to grow with the increasing demand for our services, as more and more companies are relying on the employment of IT software.
As we expand our team, we are very aware that there is a digital skills shortage. We have pledged to support the local skills of Jersey and encourage more students to consider the Computer Sciences industry. Our junior and internship positions will provide technical training and development to further digital skills and show that Computer Sciences is a great path to follow.’
