Cayman Enterprise City (CEC), Cayman’s special economic zone announced the launch of its new jobs portal www.ZoneJobs.ky this week. The jobs portal was developed for CEC by local recruitment firm CML Offshore Recruitment using their proprietary software platform and was created to help Caymanians get easy access to the new jobs as they start to be created within the special economic zone.

In line with CEC’s efforts to create a world-class special economic zone, its’ Client Services team provides a vital red carpet professional relocation service to assist zone companies and their staff with everything they need to make their move to the Cayman Islands as smooth and seamless as possible. Clients who are bound for CEC from various parts of the globe are put in touch with local vendors and service providers and a very important part of the process is assisting them with hiring locals for the jobs that don’t require highly technical industry specific skills in this technology focused zone.

To encourage zone companies to hire locally, CEC enables its clients to post job adverts on the new jobs portal free of charge and potential candidates can search jobs by industry including: Internet and Technology, Media, Commodities, Biotech and Academic sectors. Caymanians are invited to post their resumes directly onto the jobs portal or to email them to [email protected] and even if they don’t currently see a suitable position, they are immediately entered into the database. The portal has a sophisticated back engine that marries skill sets to job requirements and should a suitable position become available, any potential candidates and employers are alerted. The CEC Client Services team is also starting to send out bulletins to zone companies, even if they are not currently hiring, to make them aware of the local talent that is available, encouraging them to think about future growth.

“The zone is still in its infancy and as more companies move to Cayman and set up in the zone, more and more jobs will start to be created.” noted Maria Phillip, Client Services Manager at CEC. “Most companies tend to start by putting a toe in the water with a small presence in CEC, but the good news is that we have seen rapid growth within some zone enterprises, with several having expanded their footprint already and many seeking to do so by hiring Caymanians”.

“There are now 93 companies signed up with CEC and approximately 72 having moved to Cayman, with the remainder going through the paperwork and licensing process and hoping to move here in early 2014. We expect to see some encouraging job creation over the coming months and years and as CEC is 100% Caymanian owned and managed, it’s important to us that the zone creates as many opportunities as possible for Caymanians. These opportunities are not limited to jobs but also include entrepreneurial endeavors and training through our Enterprise Cayman initiative” stated Charlie Kirkconnell, CEO of CEC.

“The jobs portal is a key component in Enterprise Cayman’s efforts to combine Cayman Enterprise City’s management and senior Government representatives in a strategic effort to maximize Caymanian participation in Cayman’s Special Economic Zone. As Zone companies expand, there will be new opportunities and the jobs portal will enable these Zone companies to engage with local talent. At the same time, the jobs portal will also provide a mechanism for Caymanians to log general expressions of interest, receive notifications when jobs are posted and to apply for specific positions they are interested in,” stated Vaughan Carter Chairman of the Enterprise Cayman Board. “Alongside this initiative, Enterprise Cayman is also committed to working with stakeholders to develop Caymanian talent, so that it is better placed to access these new positions as and when they do become available.”

Enterprise Cayman is a partnership between Cayman Enterprise City and the Government of the Cayman Islands to connect Caymanians with opportunities created by the special economic zone. CEC is financially investing in the initiative and in Cayman’s youth by sponsoring meaningful STEM initiatives with a view to encouraging greater interest in mathematics, science and information technology from a young age. CEC and Enterprise Cayman are committed to training and further education that will enable young people to enhance their STEM education and to hone their technical skills. CEC is working in partnership with all interested stakeholders to provide mentoring, career counseling and the associated skills necessary to take advantage of opportunities in Cayman’s Special Economic Zone.

The Enterprise Cayman initiatives aim to target scholarships to maximize developmental opportunities for local talent and are seeking to facilitate the creation of a new generation of highly skilled Caymanian technicians, innovators and entrepreneurs. It is supporting and encouraging the growth of a new culture of entrepreneurship in the Cayman Islands and several unique events with international key note entrepreneurial speakers are planned for early next year.

The Enterprise Cayman team is working with the Ministry of Education in identifying the new jobs that are projected to be generated by the Special Economic zone and are creating developmental pathways to assist Caymanians in accessing these opportunities.