Tech Leaders Discuss How To Keep Jobs Here In Jersey

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By Christina Johnson
MATAWAN –  How can New Jersey grow its tech sector, and keep its bright graduates from leaving the state for jobs elsewhere?
At a forum Thursday hosted by the NJ Tech Council trade association and iCIMS, the rapidly growing job applicant tracking software firm in Matawan, about 50 people came together to exchange ideas on how to facilitate connections between schools and industry, strengthen employment and training services, and reach out to New Jersey natives who are want to return home to tech jobs in Monmouth County.
New Jersey offers 360,000 jobs in the technology cluster, which represents 11 percent of all private employment in the state, according to the New Jersey Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development. The average tech worker’s salary here is $114,000 – almost twice the average salary of all industries combined.
“We’re talking very serious, lucrative employment that can really open doors, that can open a number of career paths, and people need to know this,” said Jeff Stoller, the Labor Department’s assistant commissioner of research and information, a member of the panel.
To improve the state’s ability to compete in the tech sector, Stoller said the Labor Dept. is focused on three major initiatives in 2016: to build partnerships with academic institutions like New Jersey Institute of Technology to prepare students for jobs in advanced manufacturing; to reach out to entry-level and mid-career job seekers as well as its senior state job counselors with tech skill education; and to create a statewide network using every library to provide the same kind of free job-search resources found at the Workforce Development One Stop Centers.
Senator Tom Kean, Jr., (R-21) the event’s keynote speaker, said New Jersey’s highly educated workforce is a prize worth fighting for. “First and foremost, people need to get their first job here,” said Kean.
He spoke about the need to keep New Jersey’s highly educated students from leaving for better opportunities. “The strength of New Jersey has always been those individuals staying in the state of New Jersey. But we need to make sure we are bringing more and more people here as a destination. And we’ve got work to do.”
Kean talked about how he spearheaded legislation aimed at making significant investment in higher education infrastructure, to strengthen future economic growth in technology and pharmaceutical industries in New Jersey.
According to the Dept. of Labor, more than 50 percent of the state’s tech jobs are in Middlesex, Bergen, Morris, Somerset, and Mercer counties, but there is a presence in every one of the state’s other 16 counties.
Attracting young talent to desirable Monmouth County can be a challenge because of the cost of living, said panelist Gordon Forsyth, Digital Experience Strategist for Product Innovation and Brand Engagement at Red DefinedLogic, a digital services firm in Red Bank that works with companies like AT&T, Tyco, Pfizer and Humana. “How do you get young companies and young people to a place they can affordably live and work?” said Forsyth.
DefinedLogic reaches out to local college students. Last summer, the firm operated an incubator called “Studio Red Bank” in which it mentored 20 students at Monmouth University in West Long Branch and The College of New Jersey in Ewing to hone their skills as aspiring entrepreneurs. Two of those students found a place at the company.
At iCIMS, where the company says it is “expanding 30 percent year over year,” the chief marketing officer spends a lot of time thinking of ways to bring in new talent.
“One of the things we’re targeting this year is students who are from New Jersey, but attending school out of state,” said Susan Vitale. “I feel that they’re an untapped resource.”
At iCIMS, potential applicants can sign up to “stay in touch” and receive updates on jobs, invitations to future events and news about opportunities through Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or email. They don’t even have to upload a resume. After one year, this system of “light touch” “nurturing emails” has grown the company’s online job applicant database by 198 percent, Vitale said. “Candidates want this; they want to be in touch about these communications.”
In the next two weeks, the company will roll out a new technology platform called “Brazen” that will allow New Jersey students studying out of state to chat with a New Jersey-based employer who is hiring.
“There’s great talent that has gone out of state that we’re trying to target with online networking events and automated email campaigns, inviting them back to virtually connect with us,” said Vitale.