Tasmania gives UXC $1.7m grant to keep jobs onshore

UXC Limited will hire 50 new staff in Tasmania over the next 18 months after receiving a $1.7 million grant from the Tasmanian government just days before the state delivers its budget.

The ASX-listed solution provider expects to expand to more than 60 staff in the state in the next 18 months, stated managing director Cris Nicolli. The company already has 12 people in Tasmania at its UXC Eclipse business.

UXC Limited employs around 2,500 people. The company grew 8.3 percent to $643.4 million in the year to 30 June 2014, the first time it had topped $600 million in its 12-year history.

Assuming all the funding goes directly to new staff costs and is allocated equally between new staff, it would mean approximately $34,000 for each new staff member.

The government will provide UXC with $1.7 million over five years to create a customer support centre.

The money was being provided to ensure UXC expands into Hobart rather than “taking these jobs offshore”. Provision for the $1.7 million in jobs-support will be made in the budget on 28 May.

The support centre will expand the existing Tasmanian operation of its Microsoft Dynamics division, UXC Eclipse.

The Department of State Growth is working with UXC to find appropriate office space, as well as exploring opportunities for a collaborative graduate employment program with the University of Tasmania.

UXC already counts the Tasmanian government as a customer, winning a software-as-a-service deal this year that will see it deliver Sharepoint, Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM applications along with hardware supplied by Tasmanian-owned business TasmaNet. Its UXC Oxygen business ran a SAP project with Hydro Tasmania in 2013 and 2014.

 Other IT solutions providers active in Tasmania include Anittel, which won a $17 million deal in 2012 to deliver Cisco-based managed voice services for the Tasmanian government, and RXP Services, which acquired Hobart-based Microsoft specialist Insight4 for $5.4 million.