For Christmas we support the junior staff development in the Swiss ICT sector.

Sweets and calendars are nice gifts for christmas and we really would like to say thanks by giving you a treat. Yet their effect is of short nature and gone too soon. That is why we went for a present that has a sustainable effect and provokes something good in the long run. In the interest of our working field and for the benefit of our clients and partners we have decided to support the ICT Scouts/Campus programme from this year on.

What is ICT Scouts and ICT Campus?

The idea of ICT Scouts/Campus, the brainchild of a non-profit promotional association that receives both public and private backing, is as simple as it is compelling: given the acute shortage in Switzerland of professionals in the MINT subjects (maths, IT, natural sciences and technology), young ICT talents will be sought out from Year Seven in schools and given individual support on an ongoing basis.  

For IT service providers and their customers, this means that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit suitable trainees and skilled workers who are able to meet the digital challenges. This becomes a problem when systems can no longer be reliably maintained and secured due to a lack of staff and expertise and sooner or later also affects your business applications.

ICT Scouts/Campus currently has locations in Basel, Bern, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lenzburg, Lucerne and Thun for seeking to identify talented young adults and motivate them to pursue a career in ICT or the MINT subjects. School students from all over German-speaking Switzerland are invited to come along regularly every second Saturday until they complete their compulsory education and enhance their talent for free. The young talents begin by completing a basic programme that serves as a kind of admission procedure. After that, they are free to choose projects from across the entire ICT spectrum (e.g. web, game or graphic design, programming, robotics or microcomputing). They can also tackle their own projects, usually at a more advanced stage. Finally, the young people are actively put in touch with interesting host companies and institutions of higher education.

ICT Scouts/Campus is a completely new approach in identifying talents in the ICT sector. It differs from the other 600 Swiss MINT support programmes in four ways:

• young talents are systematically sought by ICT Scouts from Year Seven at public schools 
• the talents are continuously supported at ICT Campus for three years
• finally, they are actively put in touch with companies and institutions of higher education
• ICT talents choose their field of interest themselves which leads to a broad spectrum of subjects on the ICT Campus

Systematic search, continuity of support and free participation make ICT Campus a place of great diversity with a share of almost 50 % girls. This is unique among the 600 Swiss MINT programmes.

We think supporting the project is in the long-term interest of our clients and partners since IT providers already struggle with recruiting talented and qualified staff. If nothing changes, this will sooner or later affect the operation of your business applications as well. So we take action and will keep you up-to-date on the future progress of our engagement. We would like to thank you for your cooperation and are looking forward to a another successful year with you. Have A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year.

Your team at Metracon AG
in December 2021

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