Polish service centre boom continues

This means that since April 2014, such companies have created 22,000 jobs across the country. Around 60 new Polish centres have been opened since the beginning of 2014. The report was released at the 6th ABSL Conference, which ‘Eurobuild Central & Eastern Europe’ was a media partner of. It was drawn up in cooperation with Antal International, Baker & McKenzie, Everest Group and JLL. Over the last two years the number of employees in the sector has increased by over a third. “As many as 250,000 people could be working in the sector by 2020. This represents a quarter of a million jobs for university graduates, specialists and managers,” predicts Marek Grodziński, the vice-president of ABSL and the director of the European network of Capgemini BPO Centres. Companies that have decided to open centres since 2014 include: General Motors, FedEx, Mars, Owens-Illionois, Toyota and UPS. ABSL reports that in 2002 there were only a few dozen service centres financed by foreign capital, whereas in 2007 the number has risen to 200 and in H2 2014 there were more than 500. “This is another year in a row when business services constitutes the largest sector in terms of direct investment in Poland*. A total of 356 global companies currently operate in Poland. Thanks to this sector, Poland has now become a recognisable international brand,” claims Jacek Levernes, the president of ABSL and a board member at HP Europa. Kraków, where 35,700 people work in foreign-owned service centres, has been the main location for investors from this sector for the last two years. Warsaw is next in the ranking with 27,000 people in such employment, followed by Wrocław (23,700), the TriCity (13,700), Łódź (13,100) and the Katowice and Poznań conurbations with 11,200 and 9,000 workplaces in the sector respectively. “The business services sector has been having a big impact on the growth of the office market. Service centres currently generate 65 pct of the demand for office space in regional cities outside Warsaw. What sets Poland apart in investors’ eyes, is the large number of very well developed urban centres such as Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, the TriCity, Katowice, Poznań, Łódź, Szczecin and Lublin,” explains Anna Młyniec, the director of office leasing and tenant representation at JLL.

Tony Blair was the guest of honour at this year’s event. IT specialists form the largest sub-group with 15,000 employees in the sector in Poland. The second largest group are finance and accounting specialists, who constitute 22 pct of the total. Those working in processes related to the financial industry, such banking, insurance and investment services, make up 13 pct of the total. Around 9 out of 10 of the centres provide services for entities from Western Europe and 45 pct service North American firms. According to ABSL, the business services in Poland are becoming more and more sophisticated every year, as 9 out of 10 of the companies surveyed responded. Poland also has the chance to attract global investment funds to put their money into this sector. However, this would require changes to the formal and legal regulations in terms of the simplification of the registration of international investment funds. Adjusting the current regulations would provide an additional income of around PLN 7 bln to the treasury over five years from tax and insurance fees, and would create an additional 100,000 jobs. “We are talking about well-paid jobs that will require expert knowledge, for example, the administration and management of asset portfolios, cash flow and risk analysis for the funds,” adds Jacek Levernes.