ReadyTech doubles down on backing Tasmanian tech talent

Canva co-founder Cameron Adams moved there, so have more Atlassian employees, now a top executive has revealed why Tasmania is fertile ground to develop tech talent.

ReadyTech co-founder Marc Washbourne wants to keep more of Tasmania's tech talent in the state.

Canva co-founder Cameron Adams moved there, so have more Atlassian employees, now a top executive has revealed why Tasmania is fertile ground to develop tech talent.

ASX-listed ReadyTech has become one of Tasmania’s biggest tech employers and has established a centre of excellence to create more training and career pathways.

Co-founder Marc Washbourne said the company – which entered the state in 2017 via an acquisition – said he found Tasmanian staff “hardworking, very dedicated” and importantly “incredibly customer-focused”, setting them apart from their mainland counterparts.

“Here, we just found huge untapped potential. Because it’s an island, they tend to have a more sense of community. So we’ve really found that they support each other extremely well. That’s probably why, more than anything, it’s a great place to build a learning centre because they’re so supportive of each other,” Mr Washbourne said.

According to a 2022 Deloitte Access Economics report, Tasmania’s tech sector employs almost 10,000 people – 38 per cent of whom work at Tasmanian technology businesses.

The sector generated about $1.7bn in revenue in 2020-21. But Tasmanian technology businesses say attracting suitable staff remains a challenge, citing technical skills gaps across several areas including cybersecurity, cloud computing and programming/software development.

Mr Washbourne said ReadyTech planned to help via its centre of excellence. He said the company will partner with the University of Tasmania, TasTAF and its peers to develop education and training programs tailored to address specific tech skills in the state.

“It’s essentially a sort of hub for technology capabilities – all the skills that we need for software engineering, AI, data science, product management’s a really important part of what we do, cybersecurity – and we plan to bring in entry level talent with potential.

“We teach them, obviously, a lot of technical skills, and they learn on the job, but also sort of learn those really important job ready skills, as we call them – communication and adaptability and collaboration and all those sort of good things. Think of it as a digital apprenticeship.

“We think that Tasmania is an awesome place to live. And you know, the people, the best and brightest who want to stay here should be given great opportunities.”

ReadyTech’s head of strategy and Innovation, Chris Smith, said it would allow the company to increase its Tasmanian workforce.

“Through our centre of excellence, we’ll be supporting more Tasmanians to build the skills they need to enter and advance in the tech industry with reskilling initiatives and alternate pathways for people from diverse backgrounds,” he said.

“This will strengthen Tasmania’s tech workforce and increase the depth of technology skills and expertise in the state.”