Press Release. Brașov, February 20, 2020
3500 employees work in the business services industry in Brasov
“Raising the Bar Value Creation in Business Services” is the theme of the event organized today by the ABSL in Brasov. Current industry topics such as the workplace performance, office spaces that encourage creativity and take into account the personality and specificity of the new generation of employees, challenges in the labor market and automation are among the topics debated by local industry representatives.
Brașov has become an attractive destination for the Business Services sector due to the number of people with technical skills and language skills, the existence of a university center that helps with the increasing need for employees, the central geographical positioning, the lower costs compared to other locations and very good living conditions.
The business services industry is constantly developing in Central and Eastern Europe. “We hope that at the local level we will see an acceleration of this growth. But for this we need a significant increase in the number of graduates of local universities. In the next five years, the number of jobs in which the added value will be higher will increase progressively, and the level of knowledge required is higher. For example, at Waters we have a constant need for experts in programming, testing, analytical chemistry, product development/management, architects, UX, technical documentation”, says Gabriel Jurj, Managing Director, Waters.
“Also for Majorel, 2019 was a year of consolidation, and for 2020 the company aims to employ 150-200 people with technical skills, foreign languages and soft skills. Trainings at the workplace, but also the benefits such as flexible parenting programs, skills and career development programs are the reasons why the average rate of departure from the company is below the national average of 26%”, explains Daniela Micușan, General Manager at Majorel.
In order to increase the number of potential employees and their level of training, the companies will continue to develop partnerships with the universities of Brasov, by extending the programs of proficiency in foreign languages or skills development.
Business services industry at national level
According to estimates, the business services industry generated revenue last year, of more than 4.5 billion euros, reaching over 2% of GDP.
The sector comprises 280 companies and over 131,000 employees, i.e. 2.4% of the total employees in the Romanian economy.
Most companies operating on the local market come from France, Germany, Romania and the USA.
While a large part of SSC companies, ie 42% of them, will focus on optimizing and stabilizing services in the next year, 79% of BPO companies intend to increase the number of customers and implicitly the turnover.
According to the companies participating in the annual study conducted by ABSL together with KPMG, the main services provided are IT (34%), financial and accounting services (28%), customer operations (26%), HR (21%), purchases (19%), Project Management (18%), business transformation (16%) and document management (15%).
About 85,000 employees of this industry work in Bucharest (about 8% of the total employees in the capital), 15,000 in Cluj (6% of the number of employees in the county), 11,000 in Iasi (6.5% of the workforce available in the county ), and in Timișoara 10,000 (around 4% of the number of employees in the county), the rest of the employees in the industry coming from other cities such as Brașov, Sibiu, Galați or Craiova.
For 2020, the maximum increase in the number of employees estimated by ABSL is almost 10%, and for 2021 the projected increase is 6.5%.
The average turnover generated last year by an employee in business services is 31,000 euros / year, while the maximum value stands at 119,000 euros / year, reflecting the tendency of players in the industry to move to high value-added services and complex pricing models.
Most employees in the industry provide customer services (32%), finance and accounting (24%), followed by IT (21%).
The average rate of departures from the company is 26%, compared to the national average of 20%, and the average rate of departures from the company for the first six months is 17%.
60% of the employees of the industry are women (percentage decrease compared to previous years), which is explained by the high share of services such as finance – accounting and customer service. Most of the employees in the industry are between 26-35 years old, 58% have a university degree and 28% have also completed a master’s or doctoral program.
45% of the companies participating in the study reported that the average level of employee experience is up to 3 years, 30% between 3-5 years, while in 25% of companies the level of employee experience exceeds 5 years.
The companies participating in the study reported that the most required qualifications required for employment in the industry are foreign languages (55%), the combination of a foreign language with technical or IT skills (18%), technical knowledge (9%), financial knowledge (3%) and various other knowledge (soft skills, project management, etc.) (15%).
According to the report, 74% of the companies in the industry use solutions to automate their activity, at different stages of maturity, while 60% of them use staff from inside the company to implement these projects.
Starting salaries in the business services industry are 30% higher compared to the economy minimum for employees with higher education and there are a very rapid career development opportunities.
The ABSL report analyzes seven processes / types of industry positions, as follows: Project/Process Management, Finance and Accounting, Human Resources, Customer Services, Procurement and Procurement Services, Software Development (IT) and Management.
The average salary for a project management specialist with more than five years experience can reach RON 15,000 gross.
In finance and accounting, the starting salary can start from RON 3,900 gross, while the salary of a specialist with over 3 years experience is between RON 4,800 and RON 25,000 gross, in the case of top managers who combine certain rare skills, required on the market.
In customer service, the average gross salary for people with experience and middle management positions is around RON 8,600.
According to the study, most companies offer language bonuses. French, German, Italian and Spanish are the most sought-after languages by employers, these being paid with bonuses (included or not in the basic salary) that can vary between 290 and 3,000 gross lei per month. Those who know less spoken languages (Dutch, Hebrew, Polish, etc.) can receive bonuses up to RON 4,700 gross/month, in certain situations.
Another benefit granted to employees is the extra free days, apart from the mandatory ones, which can vary between one and six days a year.
Meals, private medical subscriptions and the option of having flexible working hours or being able to work from home are already common benefits in the industry.
The study of the business services industry was carried out by ABSL in collaboration with KPMG. The study was attended by 42 companies that comprise 24% of the employees of the industry.