The third edition of the Timisoara Business Mixer conference – “One step further: How innovative can we be in the Business Services Industry?”, organised by Association of Business Services Industry (ABSL) will take place today.
The themes which will be discussed at the event are: recruitment and employment, automation in finance, but also topics such as the furnishing and flexibility of the workspace. The speakers of this event are:
- Elena Ardelean, Dealer Business Manager – Steelcase
- Cristina Ionescu, Advisory Director, Technology & Innovation – KPMG
- Cristina Rogobete, Strategic Clients Manager – HAYS Talent Solution
- Viorel Opaiț, Business Development Director – JLL
- Iulian Pătrașcu, founder & Senior Partner|Fine Law – Pătrășcanu & Associates
- Mihaela Robu – Business Developer and Members Relationships Manager – ACCA South Eastern Europe
- Basav Ray Chaudhuri, Leadership Development Coach – I Future
- Alina Iozsa – Partner – Hategan Attorneys
- Andrea Telegdi – Business Development Manager – AIMS Timișoara
- Andrei Crăciun – Head of Office for Innovation, Technological Transfer and Intellectual Property – West University, Timisoara
- Mihaela Popa – Country HR Manager – Wipro România
The event is supported by the local law firm from Timișoara, Hategan Attorneys.
Timisoara has become an attractive market for investors due to: skilled people for the industry (foreign languages, technical skills), flexibility, efficient costs, access to new technologies, good speed of the internet and living costs (rank 45 according to the World Bank report).
According to ABSL estimations, the most representative organisation of the business services sector, which brings together the most important companies in the industry, the sector offers jobs for almost 125.000 employees, representing approximative 1.5% of Romania’s active population. Timisoara counts 10.000 employees, the unemployment rate in this area being 1%.
Also, based on the study conducted by the association with KPMG, it is estimated that the outsourcing industry has generated incomes of approximate 4 billion euro in 2017.
Romania ranks first on the mature outsourcing markets, counting 265 companies, according to a study realized by Cushman and Wakefield Romania
Romania ranks first on the mature outsourcing markets category, counting over 265 companies, a motivated and well-trained workforce, with many foreign languages’ speakers, being cost competitive, and having similar values to the European countries. These are the arguments for which the industry`s potential is 300 thousand employees.
Most of the companies which activates on the local market are from France, Germany, Romania and U.S., the most attractive cities for them being Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi and Timisoara.
Outsourcing companies’ clients are activating in the following sectors: banking, financial assurances and services, technology and telecommunications, professional business services and industrial & fast-moving consumer goods.
The report also shows that the most ambitious plans for growing belong to the companies with over 500 employees. Those aims to expand both through diversification of services and by attracting new customers.
According to a study conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 85% of the last decade companies have developed internal transformation plans, and 24% of them already observed an impact on the business.
Most of the clients are from the European area, and the most common services provided by the industry are: Finance and Accounting, IT, Clients Operations, Human Resources and Acquisitions. For the Finance-Accounting services, the main activities are linked to the managing of the suppliers and clients, and for the IT services – User Support and Maintenance for dedicated apps. Regarding the clients managing, the most common activities are linked to Helpdesk and Sales & Account Management Support, for the Human Resources and Administration services, Reporting and Salaries, and for the Acquisitions – Operational Acquisitions.
“Timis County has become the country’s second exporter since 2016, and Timisoara has a turnover with an average growth rate of 10.62%.
Beyond this numbers, the difficulty of the companies to hire specialists in IT, automotive and business services, in general, as well as the occupancy rate of the existent office buildings and the under-construction ones, are clear indicators of the growth of these domains”, said Ciprian Dan, ABSL Vice President.
It is estimated that the industry in Romania can exceed 220 thousand employees in the next 5 years
In 2018, 33% of the companies offer Clients Management services, 25% offer IT Services, and 23% offer Accounting and Finances.
According to the same study, the median age of the workforce is between 26 and 35 years old, women representing 61% of the employees in the industry.
The survey also states that an employee spends between 1 and 5 years in a company. Most of the people who work in the industry have at least a bachelor’s degree, and 24% have a master’s degree diploma or a doctorate.
At the moment, the most desired employees are the people who combine skills with the knowledge of foreign languages, German language being one of them, and also with other activities required by the industry.
37 of the respondent companies have over 1200 foreign employees. They have been employed based on languages criteria (68%), implementation of new processes (35%), technical skills or complex experience (24%).
“The outsourcing domain has been active in Romania for many years, due to the skills and commitment of the available human resource. The fact that we speak and learn easily foreign languages help the industry’s professionals to deliver results and to respect and even exceed the coherently agreed performance indicators. But we won’t stop here, this will contribute to the cultural integration in multidisciplinary teams.
If in the past we could say that the benchmarking for the outsourcing industry was the quality-price ratio, now Romania has a real chance to advance to the significant value-added area. It’s time for the industry to focus more, mostly on the talent and creativity of the professionals within the country, in order to innovate, generate new products and even create new markets.
The relationship between the companies – the private sector and the educational institutions – even if we talk about secondary education, but mostly in the case of higher education, has the chance to define and promote both the actual necessary abilities for the industry and the future skills, at a time when it’s estimated that over 80% of the 2030’s jobs don’t exist yet. The role of the universities is very clear here: they should be constantly connected to the industry’s needs.
But at the same time, the industry and the companies should be present in citizens’ everyday life, they must communicate and get involved in the university curriculum through offering internships, supporting professional competitions and more, said Andrei Craciun, Head of Office for Innovation, Technological Transfer and Intellectual Property – West University, Timișoara.
Romania – an appropriate destination for the outsourcing investors
96% of the study participants consider that Romania is a favourable place for investments and would recommend it to other potential investors.
At the same time, 70% of survey respondents consider that the frequently political changes make difficult the activity of companies in this field. In the assessment that companies have made to their main locations, criteria such as the availability of modern office spaces, the city’s infrastructure, and its image obtained high scores. Instead, the lowest marks were granted to the cooperation with local authorities.
The competition in the outsourcing market has been assessed by the participants as a very strong one; on a scale of 1 to 10, the average being 9.1.
The study was conducted in August, on a sample of 50-member companies and non-ABSL members.
The ABSL member companies that have headquarters in Timisoara, too, are: Wipro, Bosch Service Solutions, Microsoft, KPMG, Linde Global Services, EY, PwC, Deloitte, Accenture, APT.