Outsourcing&More #60 September-October 2021

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www.outsourcingandmore.eu No. 5 (60) | September–October 2021 ISSN 2083-8867 PRICE EUR 6 (INCL. 8% VAT)

SOUTH AFRICA – ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING DESTINATION FOR BPO PROJECTS An interview with Rod Jones – Principal at Rod Jones Consulting (Pty) Ltd, South Africa | page 32

BUSINESS:

BUSINESS:

CAREER & DEVELOPMENT:

(R)evolution in employee sobriety testing rules? |page 10

All spaces are now video spaces: three key concepts to connect in-office and remote teams |page 22

Organization of events – their role and value in the business world |page 78

CHANGES ARE COMING Created by Pro Progressio

www.outsourcingandmore.eu No. 5 (60) | September–October 2021 ISSN 2083-8867 PRICE EUR 6 (INCL. 8% VAT)

SOUTH AFRICA – ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING DESTINATION FOR BPO PROJECTS An interview with Rod Jones – Principal at Rod Jones Consulting (Pty) Ltd, South Africa | page 32

BUSINESS:

BUSINESS:

CAREER & DEVELOPMENT:

(R)evolution in employee sobriety testing rules? |page 10

All spaces are now video spaces: three key concepts to connect in-office and remote teams |page 22

Organization of events – their role and value in the business world |page 78

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INTRODUCTION

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Editor-in-chief Dymitr Doktór dymitr.doktor@proprogressio.pl Managing editor Katarzyna Czylok-Dąbrowska katarzyna.czylok@proprogressio.pl DTP Iwona Księżopolska Advertising reklama@proprogressio.pl Published by

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Print Drukarnia Jantar Legal support Chudzik i Wspólnicy

Dear Readers, A business autumn is ahead of us, and with it the next edition of the Outsourcing&More magazine. More and more companies are wondering about returning to offices after a long period of remote work and the question that entrepreneurs ask themselves about the new model of work is still in place. As it usually happens, time will tell which of the scenarios of returning to the offices turned out to be the dominant one.

Regardless of whether in the office or at home, it is worth taking the Outsourcing&More magazine in your hand and getting acquainted with what is a trend in the Business Services Sector, what constitutes industry challenges, and what inspirational topics representatives of the real estate world, advisory companies and recruitment agencies share.

Place and date of issue Warsaw, 16.09.2021

In the current issue, in the legal advice section, we focused on the rules for conducting sobriety checks for employees and on a new type of commercial company, which is a simple joint-stock company. We also introduced new rules for supporting investments – Zofia Kilian from PAIH wrote about the grant program for the BSS sector. These are just examples from dozens of publications that we have included on the pages of the current issue.

All rights reserved.

No copying, reproduction or photocopying allowed without written consent of the publisher.

For the first time, I will share with you a new internet address where you can read the Outsourcing&More Magazine. From now on, we are available at focusonbusiness.eu.

An electronic version of the Magazine see the website www.outsourcingandmore.eu Circulation 3,000 copies

The views expressed in this publication as well as the content of the adverts are not necessarily those of the editor.

It is worth noting here that this is the last issue of Outsourcing­ &More under this title, and from November 2021, on the 10th anniversary of the magazine’s appearance and uninterrupted publication on the market, we will appear under the new brand – FOCUS ON Business.

Authors: I wish you an interesting time spent with our Magazine.

Magdalena Chochowska • Karolina Goździkiewicz • Agnieszka Krzyżaniak • Michał Stangret • Wojciech Krupa • Martin Konieczny • Sebastian Młodziński • Rod Jones • Marek Ciunowicz • Zofia Kilian • Tadas Stankevičius • Łukasz Żelewski • Mariusz Domeradzki • Anna Tymoshenko • Łukasz Grzeszczyk

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Dymitr Doktór, Editor in Chief

5

INDEX

8 10 14 18 20 22 26 28 32 36 38 40 6

BUSINESS NEWS (R)evolution in employee sobriety testing rules?

For a few weeks now, on the website of the Government Legislation Centre, one can read a draft amendment to the Labor Code and the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism.

Simple joint-stock company – a new type of commercial law company On 1 July 2021, an amendment to the Commercial Companies Code came into force, introducing a new type of capital company into the Polish legal system.

How to create a hybrid work environment without a hassle?

The recipe for an engaged team that will get the job done in a timely manner in a hybrid work environment.

HushHybrid – new acoustic booth for hybrid work and better videoconferencing!

Hybrid work is no longer simply a trend, but a standard being incorporated by more and more employers, all thanks to employees returning to offices after COVID.

All spaces are now video spaces: three key concepts to connect in-office and remote teams The future of the workplace is hybrid and so is the future of collaboration.

We do our best to respond to our clients’ needs and evolve accordingly Interview with Martin Konieczny, Business Development Manager, j-labs software specialist.

From assessment through motivation to internal audits Employees as the key drivers of change in an enterprise.

MAIN INTERVIEW South Africa – one of the fastest growing destination for BPO projects An interview with Rod Jones – Principal at Rod Jones Consulting (Pty) Ltd, South Africa.

INVESTMENTS NEWS An Expert’s View – Corees Polska From a company’s perspective, an office is a place allowing to create a desired image among employees, which is supposed to encourage potential candidates to cooperate as well as increase the efficiency of everyday work.

New rules for investment support – a tailor-made grant!

The year 2020 was undoubtedly exceptional and brought many changes for the modern business services industry – in Poland and Europe, as well as worldwide.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

44 46 48 52 56 58 62 64 66 70 72 74 78 Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Business services sector in Poland can benefit from the nearshoring trend by attracting companies which look for opportunities closer to home The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has directed investors’ attention to strategies based on nearshoring.

Kaunas on the rise How Lithuania’s second-largest city brings about first-class quality.

Trust more important than awards. Pomerania is open for global businesses Interview with The President of the Board of Directors of The Pomerania Development Agency (PDA), Mr. Łukasz Żelewski.

I believe that Elbląg faces on opportunity to become an important economic centre of northern Poland Interview with Mariusz Domeradzki, President of Board of Operator ARP sp. z o.o.

Katowice – the city with five keys to success!

Surely, many specialists in economic marketing wonder what factors have a decisive influence on the choice of a specific location by an investor.

125 years of tradition The history of Częstochowa is heavy industry. Education, social life and high work culture were shaped around it.

Dialogue is a good practice The City of Kielce undertakes a wide dialogue that is to connect business.

Catch wind in your sails – why relocating to Łódź is worth your while The location in the heart of Poland and excellent transport links are assets which still attract business to Łódź.

Local competences, global projects How the BPO/SSC sector is developing in Bydgoszcz.

Start IT up! In Poznań Under this slogan we are presenting IT companies straight from Poznań.

HR NEWS Good prospects for the Polish business services sector For years, the Polish business services sector (BSS) has been considered one of the fastest-growing in Europe.

Organization of events – their role and value in the business world 60% of respondents consider the form of in-person meetings as having the best impact on employees’ willingness to work, and 47% indicate the hybrid model.

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BUSINESS NEWS THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE OFFER OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS IN POLAND The latest Cpl Poland report "COVID-19`s impact on employee benefits in Poland" is not only an analysis of the benefits offer in Poland, but also a presentation of changes that have taken place during the pandemic and which might be coming our way. Cpl experts asked for opinion both, employers and employees – thus report is presenting a full picture of benefits on the labour market.

before the pandemic are by far: basic medical care, Multisport card and life insurance. These benefits were received by 73%, 71% and 63% of the survey respondents, respectively. Employees also indicated the 5 most popular benefits that employers decided to extend their offer by during the pandemic, including: home office 49%, psychologist care (online and telephone support) 30%, flexible working hours (full selection of starting times) 24%, The survey was focused on 3 areas: additional activities integrating the team the benefits offered to the employees during remote work (chats, challenges) before the pandemic, changes that have 24%, co-financing of the arrangement taken place already in this area during of the workplace at home (e.g. desk, the pandemic and also employees’ expec- ergo­­­­nomic chair) 20%. According to tations towards the future. According the Cpl Poland report, 77% of companies to employees' declarations, the 3 most already offer or plan to introduce hybrid common benefits offered by employers working model.

The respondents clearly indicate that the most desirable benefits are related to the hybrid or remote working models. The possibility to arrange ones work flexibly was indicated by over 2/3 of the respondents. This clearly shows that to become attractive to employees, employers will have to provide employees with flexible forms of cooperation (also flexible working hours were indicated by over 50% of respondents). What is more, employees would expect employers to support them in creating a workplace at home – with co-financing necessary to perform work equipment/tools (47% of respondents expect co-financing for the purchase of the Internet, and 43% of other tools, such as chairs or desks, respectively).

The report COVID-19`s impact on em­­­­­ ployee benefits in Poland was enriched with two expert articles – on hybrid working model and the latest trends and the future of benefits. We encourage you to read the full version of the report and visit our website: www.cpl.com/pl

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Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

BEYOND VIRTUAL: IT ARENA GOES HYBRID IN 2021 After a year of virtual, IT Arena 2021 organi­ ­sed by Lviv IT Cluster re­­­­turns as a hybrid event. Set to take place on October 7–9, IT Arena aims to maximize both online and offline format benefits, creating a more intimate atmosphere for its attendees.

Productive networking, business matchmaking, and festival spirit remain IT Arena trademarks, but this year, adapt to the socially distanced reality we’re living in. How will the format change this year and how can you join?

a networking party for Executive Tickets holders – Tech Lounge. The third day of the IT Arena will also take place offline.

The event’s afterparties offer a great chance to meet fellow attendees in some of the most vibrant cafes in Lviv after an intensive day of online sessions.

Each afterparty venue will be available for a limited number of attendees with all COVID-1 The number of participants in the event is limited, all security requirements will be observed at the events.

14 months after the pandemic began and even after an encouraging COVID-19 vaccination campaign taking place around the world, we still continue to ask ourselves, "Is it possible to go back to the lives we had before?" IT Arena 2021 will try to find the answer to this question, partially returning to an offline format in order to gather the world’s coolest tech experts and industry leaders in one place.

As before the pandemic, the third day of the event will take place in the format of meetups in cafes and restaurants located in the historical part of Lviv. About 30 meetups will be held in ten institutions of the city, complying with quarantine requirements and a limited number of attendees at each venue.

Every year IT Arena speakers include top experts from the most diverse global companies. Among already announced speakers who will share the most interesting insights during the 2021 edition – representatives from H&M, Google, Cloudera. Due to COVID-19 related safety issues and restricted mobility between countries, most international speakers will be joining the IT Arena virtually.

However, the online format offers an unlimited opportunity for us to attract the best speakers to the conference. Stay tuned for new speaker announcements very soon.

– The hybrid format of IT Arena 2021 is another experiment for us. Last year, we held a large-scale online event for over 4,000 participants, and this time the quaran­ tine restrictions allow us to partially return offline. We plan to break into the new reality of remote and conscious living – and gather a limited number of attendees for evening afterparties, as well as meetups and work­ shops on the third day. As organizers, we are very much looking forward to October to once again experience the vibe of shared experiences and in-person meetings, discus­ sions and good networking – comments Stepan Veselovskyi, CEO, Lviv IT Cluster.

The keynote speaker of IT Arena 2021 has already been announced. Role model, trend maker, and rule changer Maye Musk will join IT Arena 2021 in an online fireside chat set to take place on Friday, October 8 at 17:30 (EEST). Maye Musk is a respected dietitian who gives talks all over the world about health, nutrition, business and aging. But things were not always so easy or glamorous – she became a single mom at thirty-one years old, struggling through poverty to provide for her three children; dealt with weight issues as a plus-size model and overcame ageism in the modeling industry.

Throughout her career, Musk concentrates on how women should be confident, purposeful and strong. Maye Musk’s talk will concentrate on women’s empo­ werment and their impact on the development of the tech industry.

Among already announced speakers also are Shameer Khader, Ph.D., Senior Director (AI/ML, Data Science, Digital Health and Bioinformatics) at AstraZeneca, Errol Koolmeister, Head of AI Foundation at H&M, Christof Leng, SRE Engagements Engineering Lead, SRE Manager II at Google and others.

The number of tickets with access to IT Arena 2021 offline events is limited. Join the event: itarena. ua.

The online part of IT Arena is an opportunity to be in several places at the same time. The event will take place on an interactive platform, where each participant will be able to chat and network via video calls, participate in discussions, switch between tracks in one click and interact with speakers in real-time.

IT Arena 2021 will include in-person afterparties of the first and second day,

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

9

BUSINESS

(R)EVOLUTION IN EMPLOYEE SOBRIETY TESTING RULES? For a few weeks now, on the website of the Government Legislation Centre, one can read a draft amendment to the Labor Code and the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism. The draft proposes to develop and simplify the procedure of testing employees' sobriety by allowing employers to perform the sobriety tests of their employees on their own, as well as to extend the scope of the tests from the point of view of their subject matter – to include other substances with similar effects to alcohol, and from the personal point of view – to include persons cooperating with the employer on a basis other than employment relationship.

EXISTING RULES FOR PERFORMING SOBRIETY TESTS One of the key duties of an employer is to provide employees with safe and healthy working conditions. This obligation is fulfilled by, among others, monitoring that the employees admitted to work are sober.

about the circumstances underlying the employer's decision.

However, the actual verification of the em­­­ ployee's state of sobriety is more problema­tic. According to the law, it may take place at the request of the workplace's manager or a person authorized by the manager – The detailed legal basis for that obliga- with the consent of the employee or at tion can be found in Article 17 of the Act the request of the employee removed on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counter- from work. In practice, the most common acting Alcoholism of 26 October 1982. reason for control is the latter case.

According to that provision, the manager of the workplace or a person authorized An additional complication is the obli­­­­by the manager has a duty not to allow gation to conduct a sobriety test of the employee to work if there is a reason- an employee only by an authorized body able suspicion that the employee came appointed to protect public order (e.g. to work under the influence of alcohol or police officer or municipal police officer), and the blood draw can be done only consumed alcohol while at work. by a person with proper professional quali­Importantly, a reasonable suspicion that fications (e.g. paramedic, nurse). an employee is intoxicated (e.g., slurred speech or intense alcohol odor) may In addition, it should be emphasized that constitute grounds for not allowing currently there is no basis in Polish law the employee to work (without the need for testing employees for the presence to conduct a test). In such a situation, of any substances similar to alcohol in the employee should only be informed their bodies.

10

SOBRIETY TESTING AND THE GDPR The admissibility of employee sobriety tests began to raise additional concerns after the implementation in Poland of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC, commonly referred to as the GDPR. Under the regulation, it is prohibited to process, without specific justification, special categories of personal data, which include health data.

Initially, experts argued whether information about a temporary state of the body such as the state of intoxication constitutes information about health. In the end, the dispute was cut short by the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection, who recognized that information on the state of drunkenness is information on health, which therefore constitutes sensitive data and its processing requires special justification.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The proposed changes do not differentiate between employees who work on-site and those who work remotely. It seems reasonable to argue that in the case of including remote employees in the sobriety check, the employer would have the basis for visiting the employee in order to randomly or preventively check their sobriety.

The introduction of sobriety tests for employees will need to be formally implemented in a collective agreement, work regulations or, in their absence, in the form of a notice to employees.

As a consequence, in the current legal en-­­­­ vironment, the employer may process information on the presence of alcohol in the employee's body only with the employee's consent expressed on his/her own initiative. In such legal environment, effective and lawful monitoring of em­­­ ployees' sobriety could be a challenge for employers.

PROPOSED LEGISLATIVE CHANGES According to the proposed wording of the amendment, the premises authori­ zing an employer to conduct sobriety tests have been extended. The employer will be able to introduce sobriety tests for employees whenever it is necessary to ensure protection of life and health of employees or other persons, or protection of the employer's property.

Taking into account the general nature of these premises, it seems that the legislator's intention is to allow for random and preventive checks, and not only to

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

confirm the sobriety of employees whom the employer will suspect of being intoxicated.

An important novelty will be the emplo­ yer's ability to perform sobriety tests on its own, as it will be possible to conduct such tests using methods that do not require a laboratory test (e.g., using a certified breathalyzer).

As before, the employer will have the right not to allow the employee to perform work in the event of: 1. ascertaining the presence of alcohol in the employee's body in an amount qualified as being under the influence of alcohol (concentration of alcohol in blood from 0.2‰ to 0.5‰ or presence of alcohol in exhaled air from 0.1 mg to 0.25 mg in 1 dm3), 2. a reasonable suspicion that an em­­­­ ployee came to work under the influence of alcohol or consumed alcohol in the course of work.

11

BUSINESS

According to the amendment, the information on the presence of alcohol in the employee’s body may be processed (exclusively) for the purpose for which it was collected by persons who have a written authorization to process such data and may be kept in the employee’s personal file for a period not exceeding 6 months from the date of its collection (unless it constitutes grounds for a penalty or evidence in court proceedings).

than for its content. This means that the employer will be able to use a device which does not indicate a specific value, but only shows the presence of alcohol in a quantity qualified as being in a state after consumption of alcohol. At this point, it should be emphasized that the pre­­­­ sen­ce of alcohol at a level lower than that defined as being in a state after consumption of alcohol should not be penalized.

TESTING FOR THE PRESENCE OF SUBSTANCES SIMILAR TO ALCOHOL IN THE BODY

Accor­­­ding to the amendment, the information on the presence of alcohol in the employee's body may be processed (exclusively) for the purpose for which it was collected by persons who have a written authorization to process such data and may be kept in the employee's personal file for a period not exceeding 6 months from the date of its collection (unless it constitutes grounds for a penalty or evidence in court proceedings).

SOBRIETY CHECKS AND REMOTE WORK

In its current form, the amendment additionally provides for employers to be able to test employees for being under the influence of other substances with similar effects to alcohol.

Interestingly, the proposed changes do not differentiate between employees who work on-site and those who work remotely. It seems reasonable to argue that in the case of including remote employees in the sobriety check, the employer would The reasons and procedure for carrying have the basis for visiting the employee in out such tests will be analogous to order to randomly or preventively check the procedure adopted for checking their sobriety. the sobriety of employees.

EXTENDED PERSONAL CATALOG Importantly, given the lack of a statutory catalog of substances with similar effects to alcohol, the implementing regulations will include a list of such substances.

THE NEED TO IMPLEMENT NEW RULES

It should also be emphasized that the new regulations are to apply not only to em­­­­ ployees, but also to individuals coope­ rating with the employer on a basis other than employment relationship and individuals running their own business.

The introduction of sobriety tests for Currently, the draft is at the opinion stage employees will need to be formally imple- and may be subject to modification. The le­­­­mented in a collective agreement, work gis­­­­lative process has not yet begun. regulations or, in their absence, in the form of a notice to employees. First of all, it At the request of the employer or an em­­­­ will be necessary to indicate the groups Authors: ployee who has not been admitted to of employees covered by the check work, a test of the employee's sobriety will (e.g. only factory workers), the method still be able to be performed by an autho­ of measurement (e.g. type of breatharized law enforcement agency using lyzer or other measuring equipment) and a method that does not require a labora- the manner of conducting the check (e.g. tory test. The blood test should be used every day before starting work).

Magdalena only afterwards or when it is not possible Chochowska, to use a non-laboratory method.

The new procedure will not be able Senior Associate, Baker McKenzie to be applied until 2 weeks after it has The current procedure based on a reason- been announced to employees, and able suspicion of being at work after the employer will be required to inform using alcohol or consuming alcohol in each new employee of it in writing. the course of work is to be maintained.

AMENDMENT AND THE GDPR What is new, however, is that it will be possible to conduct additional tests of preventive and random nature to check for the presence of alcohol rather

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The new regulations are to settle once and for all the issue of the possibility, manner and period of processing data on an employee's state of sobriety.

Karolina Goździkiewicz, Associate, Baker McKenzie

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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BUSINESS

SIMPLE JOINT-STOCK COMPANY – A NEW TYPE OF COMMERCIAL LAW COMPANY

On 1 July 2021, an amendment to the Commercial Companies Code came into force, introducing a new type of capital company into the Polish legal system – the simple joint-stock company (hereinafter: "P.S.A."). By assumption, it is supposed to be a simple, innovative and less formalised form of conducting business, intended mainly for start-ups. Nevertheless, its universal character is also highlighted – it will be available to investors who intend to start activity in any industry, with exemptions resulting from special acts.

Furthermore, the new type of company may also be of interest to entrepreneurs aiming to raise capital in non-public trading (e.g. from venture capital funds). However, P.S.A. is not dedicated to investors intending to raise capital on the organised capital market.

That is because P.S.A. shares cannot be traded on a stock exchange.

A simple joint-stock company is distingu­ ished from other commercial law companies by the following features.

SIMPLIFIED REGISTRATION PROCEDURE If the shareholders only bring in cash con-­­­­ ­­­­tributions, it is possible to set up the company in the S-24 IT system without the need to visit a notary. However, the conclusion of articles of association where the shareholders will contribute not in cash (the so-called 'in-kind contributions') or contributions in the form of work or services will require the form of a notarial deed.

THE MINIMUM AMOUNT OF BASIC CAPITAL AND INTRODUCTION OF THE SHARES WITHOUT NOMINAL VALUE In the case of P.S.A., the legislator aban­­­doned the share capital [kapitał zakła­­dowy]

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typical of capital companies in favour of the basic capital [kapitał akcyj­­ ny], which should be at least PLN 1.00.

A change in the basic capital will not require an amendment to the articles of association.

or encumbrance of shares is also a conve­ nience for entrepreneurs. It will only require a documentary form on pain of being null and void. Thus, shares may be transferred by means of electronic communication, e.g. by e-mail. It should also be noted that, upon the company Along with introducing a new category consent, it will be possible to dispose of capital, a new type of shares has also of shares that are not fully covered. been added – shares without nominal value, detached from the basic capital, A NEW TYPE OF SHARE yet granting membership rights in PREFERENCE – FOUNDER'S the company. In practice, it means that SHARES a shareholder who has contribu­ted This new type of share preference is sup­­ PLN 0.00 will be able to take up the same posed to protect shareholders who are number of shares as a shareholder the founders and originators of innovawho has contributed PLN 100.000. tive solutions within P.S.A. Their primary The company founders will be free to function is to guarantee a specific decide on the distribution of shares share in the total number of votes to and the contributions paid in to cover the founders at each new share issue. It them. Shares in P.S.A. will not have is well illustrated by the example provided the form of a document and will have in the explanatory memorandum to to be registered in the shareholders' the Act: "For example, 100 founders' register. The register may be kept, as in shares (out of a total of 1,000 shares the case of a traditional joint-stock com­­­­ issued by the company) represent 10% pany, by entities that are authori­sed in the total number of votes at the shareto keep securities accounts (e.g. broke­­ holders' meeting. Issuing 100 new shares rage houses) under the provisions of and their acquisition by an entity other the Act on Trading in Financial Instru- than the shareholder entitled from ments, but also, which is only typical the founders' shares will increase for P.S.A., by notaries. The form of disposal the number of votes per each founders'

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The taxation of a simple joint-stock company will generally not differ from the taxation rules applicable to other limited liability companies. A simple joint-stock company will therefore be taxed twice.

share to 1.(1) vote. Thus the percentage system. The board of directors will share of the foun­der's shares in the total consist of executive directors (managing number of votes will remain at 10%." the company) and, optionally, non-exe­ cutive (supervising) directors. The dualis­­ A RICH OPTION ­tic model involves the appointment of OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO P.S.A. bodies already known to Polish law, i.e.

A complete novelty introduced under P.S.A. the management board and the superviis making any contributions having a pro­- sory board. In contrast, the appointment perty value to the company. That inclu­­ of the supervisory board, unlike in the case ­des contributions in the form of rendering of a traditional joint-stock company, work or services and non-transferable is not mandatory. The advantages rights, which has been typical of part- of the monistic system over the dualistic nerships so far. It should be emphasised one include a faster flow of information that contributions of labour, services, in the company. non-transferable rights, and others not of in-kind nature will not be counted A SIMPLIFIED COMPANY LIQUIDATION PROCEDURE towards the basic capital.

The regulations governing the new type OPTION TO CHOOSE THE SYSTEM of company also provide for a simplified OF AUTHORITIES procedure of its liquidation by one shareThe legislator has provided for P.S.A. holder taking over all the company assets. choosing the model of the company's Such a solution will require the sharemanagement and representative bodies. holders' meeting to adopt a re­­­­levant The monistic model assumes the appoint- resolution by a majority of 3/4 votes cast ment of the board of directors, which in the presence of shareholders who will be a company body combining hold at least half of the shares. Addithe competencies of the management tionally, such a takeover will require board and the supervisory board. This solu- the approval of the registry court, which tion comes directly from the Anglo-Saxon must take into account the interests

A complete novelty introduced under P.S.A. is making any contributions having a property value to the company. That includes contributions in the form of rendering work or services and non-transferable rights, which has been typical of partnerships so far.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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BUSINESS

of other company shareholders and creditors. At the same time, as part of the traditional liquidation procedure, the statutory period for filing creditors' claims was reduced to three months.

Also, the distribution of the company's assets was permitted without waiting for the lapse of a specific period. The liquidation of P.S.A. will therefore be possible in a much shorter period than in the case of a traditional joint-stock company.

The form of disposal or encumbrance of shares is also a convenience for entrepreneurs.

It will only require a documentary form on pain of being null and void.

Thus, shares may be transferred by means of electronic communication, e.g. by e-mail.

As a rule, P.S.A. shareholders will not be subject to mandatory social insurance.

An exception, however, concerns shareholders making contributions to the company in the form of provision of work or services.

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PARTNERS' SOCIAL INSURANCE

From a practical point of view, the matter of social insurance is also crucial for entrepreneurs. As a rule, P.S.A. shareholders will not be subject to mandatory social insurance. An exception, however, concerns shareholders making contributions to the company in the form of provision of work or services. Such shareholders are deemed to be persons conducting a non-agricultural business.

Therefore, from the date of commenceTAXATION IN A SIMPLE ment of rendering work or services until JOINT-STOCK COMPANY the date of their termination, they will be The taxation of a simple joint-stock subject to compulsory retirement pension, com­­­­­­pany will generally not differ from disability pension, sickness, and accident the taxation rules applicable to other insurance. limited liability companies. A simple joint-stock company will therefore be taxed SUMMARY twice. Firstly, the company's income is A simple joint-stock company is a controtaxed, where C.I.T. rates already known versial combination of regulations of to entrepreneurs can be applied, i.e. 19% previously known capital companies, i.e., and 9% (if certain statutory conditions are a limited liability company and a jointmet). In the case of a simple joint-stock -stock company. However, during its creacompany, the so-called Innovation Box tion, it was decided to introduce many (I.P. Box) may also be used. In such a case, innovative solutions previously unknown the tax on the eligible income earned in the Polish legal system. Getting accusby the taxpayer from eligible intellec- tomed to new institutions will probably tual property rights created as a result take some time. Nevertheless, a simple of research and development works may joint-stock company will undoubtedly find its supporters among entrepreneurs amount to 5% of the tax base. who will decide to run their business in In the next step, according to the same this particular form.  rules as in the case of other capital companies (spółki akcyjne [limited liability [Translation note: until 2000, jointstock companies in Poland had kapitał companies] or spółki akcyjne [joint akcyjny. In 2000, the Code of Commercial stock companies]), profits distributed to Companies came into force which the company's shareholders will be taxed. introduced the term kapitał zakładowy in the place of kapitał akcyjny. Both terms Thus, the income tax rate on dividends translate into English as "share capital". and other gains from participation in legal However, as the reinstatement of the term kapitał akcyjny involves the change of its person profits is 19%. original meaning and to differentiate the existing nomenclature, the applied translation for "kapitał akcyjny' is "basic capital" which approximates the meaning of the new term.]

The issues of shareholders' taxation at the stage of making non-monetary contributions should be highlighted. As a rule, making a non-monetary contribution will constitute a shareholder's income under income tax laws, just as in the case Author: of a limited liability company or joint-stock company. However, this applies only to contributions of disposable rights or assets. That, in turn, means that no taxable revenue arises in the case of contributions of work or services. Contributions in-kind will also be exempt from income tax if the subject of such a contribution is an enterprise or its organised part.

Agnieszka Krzyżaniak, Attorney at Law in the Law Firm “Chudzik i Wspólnicy Radcowie Prawni” sp.p. www.chudzik.pl

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Finding top notch IT talent requires exceptional market knowledge.

At Devire, we fuel candidate sourcing and engagement with data.

This is how we find people who click.

64% of IT specialists work fully remotely however 55% of them want to combine remote work with office work.

33% of IT talents are looking for a job of which over 40% would change jobs due to the possibilities of flexible working hours.

50% of experts got a raise in recent months of which the highest-paying IT careers are Data Architect, and AI/ML.

82% of respondents would work remotely for a company located in another city or country if there was an opportunity.

39% of IT experts can find a new job in less than one month.

32% of specialists would want to work for a company with foreign capital.

At Devire, we know what makes top talents tick.

Need right people on the bus? Let’s talk.

devire.pl Permanent Recruitment | IT Contracting | Team & Body Leasing | RPO Solutions

BUSINESS

HOW TO CREATE A HYBRID WORK ENVIRONMENT WITHOUT A HASSLE? The recipe for an engaged team that will get the job done in a timely manner in a hybrid work environment.

Staying remote or returning to the office?

While this is a difficult question, the big ones know the answer already. SAP, Salesforce, Facebook, Microsoft, Dropbox, Twitter, Linkedin, Quora, Slack, Square – these are just a few examples of numerous companies that have passed the decision to their employees – both regarding the work model and its scope.

The trend is clear. While in 2019 – accor­­ ding to Gartner – 27 percent of office workers around the world worked in a hybrid model (at least once a week remotely), by the end of 2021 this number will almost double.

The changes are applauded by many employees who liked the hybrid work – there is no daily commuting, home office dress code is very flexible, employees have greater freedom in organizing their working time – they do not want to give it up.

worried about the quality of collaboration in remote teams. Companies are also concerned about the decline in productivity (18 percent).

Managers highlight the challenges of managing teams in the hybrid model: • ‘The problems are not so visible and the reaction time is delayed’ (63 percent of responses), • ‘It is difficult to determine how much time has actually been worked, what that time was consumed for, and some tasks have not been done’ (59 percent), • ‘Workload differentiation is increasing’ (44 percent), • ’Excess of meetings and time devoted to the status of tasks and work organization’ (44 percent).

These are the results of a survey that we conducted among managers and team leaders during one of our webinars on the opportunities of using a hybrid work environment to increase team effi­­ As much as 77 percent of Poles believe ciency and engagement. Some man­­­­a­­­­­that the hybrid work model is the best gers (leaders) fear the disintegration solution (PwC, Upskilling Hopes and of the teams and losing the sense of Fears 2021). However, Polish managers control with a sense of imminent chaos. have many concerns. ManpowerGroup's Fortunately, not all leaders feel helpless.

Niedobór talentów (Talents’ Shortage) report shows that only one in five Polish THEY SUCCEEDED employers does not report concerns Some managers can see opportunities about remote working. One in five is where others see threats. At Ringier Axel

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Springer Polska, last year's lockdown highlighted problems that had not been dealt with or encountered before.

The company struggled with a recurrence of a backlog in one of the key processes in the accounting department (purchase invoices booking) and faced a noticeable decline in employee engagement.

These problems intensified after the forced transition to remote working (only volunteers had the opportunity to work from the office). Kasia Fita, the head of the department, then decided to solve the problem once and for all, by implementing the tool supporting the manager in organizing the team's work.

The effects of the change were quick and noticeable in many areas. Whereas previously 85 percent of invoices were processed in five days or more, now all the invoices (without those suspended) are processed within one day. Both the employee satisfaction index and numerous interviews indicate a rapid improvement.

The manager emphasizes the lasting effects of the introduced changes. – A lot less stress. I am sure that priority tasks will be completed on time.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

As much as 77% of Poles believe that the hybrid work model is the best solution.

HOW IS IT DONE? The tool automatically downloads the in­­­­formation on tasks from various tran­­­sac­­­tion systems and distributes them to the ap-­ propriate employees, according to your business priorities and the employees' qualifications as defined by you.

to this, they can focus one hundred per­­­ cent on what they are currently doing, increasing their efficiency and quality of work.

– Automated task distribution and the op­­­­­­­­portunity to monitor their status on an on­­­ going basis allow you to focus on what really matters in the managerial profession. – I have an extra 90 minutes a day – says Fita.

At the same time, you have a 360-degree view of all processing tasks in one place Such transparency helps to deal with – the application provides you with an unfair delegation of tasks. The problem the tasks' current statuses and visualiof employees complaining about their zation of key KPIs on an ongoing basis. bosses becomes mute – employees’ Thanks to this, you have the peace of mind engagement and job satisfaction increase. that everything is ok.

If you are interested in the described example of implementing a system sup­­porting work organization in RASP, we invite you to watch the webinar with Kasia Fita: harmodesk.com/ Your employee carries out tasks one after Most Importantly, you are in control of casestudies/rasp. another, according to the optimal rules the process all the time. For example you of process work (do only one thing at order the distribution of a priority task to Author: a time, move to the next one after it is the system – you have the guarantee that finished or paused; make sure that each it will be handed over to the appropriate employee knows exactly what to do). employee as a matter of urgency.

Handing out or distributing tasks is important here. The employees do not have to think what to do before and what to do after – they do not have to plan. Thanks

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

You are no longer dependent on your employees’ preferences regarding the work mode, you gain a motivated team and confidence that the work will be done.

Michał Stangret, Evangelist, Harmodesk & Positive Productivity

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BUSINESS

HUSHHYBRID

NEW ACOUSTIC BOOTH FOR HYBRID WORK AND BETTER VIDEOCONFERENCING!

Hybrid work is no longer simply a trend, but a standard being incorporated by more and more employers, all thanks to employees returning to offices after COVID. HushHybrid is a novelty in the offer of Hushoffice acoustic booths, which is designed for individual work and longer videoconferences. This booth not only has very good acoustic insulation, but is also equipped with everything that a user may need. This makes it a universal place for hybrid work, which, in addition to a great design, ensures that work can be performed in peace and quiet.

WHY IS HUSHHYBRID PERFECT FOR VIDEO CONFERENCING? HushHybrid provides all the amenities needed to use an acoustic booth for longer individual work and videoconferencing. Acoustic comfort, a sense of privacy and additional amenities translate into quick and more effective work.

Inside the booth you will find an electric socket and USB ports, while the efficient ventilation system circulates the air in just 90 seconds. This also significantly affects the efficiency of work inside the hushHybrid. Product dimensions are 1244 mm x 900 mm x 2230 mm / 49 in x 35 in x 88 in.

the ability to install a VESA mount allows you to hang your all-in-one computer or monitor in the most optimal position. You can also add additional side LED strips on both sides of the suspended display.

LED lighting makes your face look optimal during video calls, thus ensuring the most desirable and professional image – regardless of whether we are taking part in a business meeting, webinar or meeting with the team.

A NEW BOOTH IN THE "NEW REALITY"

The new model of office work is already largely based on a hybrid system, in which we spend part of the week at home and the remaining days at the office. Videoconferencing and remote work are standard parts of a regular working day.

At the same time, working from the office may make it difficult to maintain appropriate distance between employees or not have enough space for remote connections and longer video calls.

Therefore, office spaces must be rearranged and adapted to the current needs The booth also offers a number of "tailor- of employees. made" amenities for hybrid work, especially remote video calling. HushHybrid HushHybrid was designed to meet these has a comfortable, soft seat that guaran- expectations. It ensures the comfort tees the correct position of the body, and of working individually, especially during

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videoconferences and longer work requiring concentration and silence.

The table located inside can be additionally extended towards the user, thus providing more space to work. HushHybrid is fully mobile thanks to the mounted castors. The acoustic booth naturally helps maintain appropriate distances between employees, and its most-touched surfaces inside are covered with a special antiviral nano shield, which prevents the growth of viruses and microbes. Exposed to light (both natural and artificial), it has disinfecting properties. The coating is durable and lasts for at least 12 months.

ALL-IN-ONE ACOUSTIC BOOTH The hushHybrid booth responds to the individual needs of employees.

A com­­­­­fortable seat, an additional retractable table, the possibility of installing an all-in-one computer or a monitor, as well as acoustic comfort ensure perfect conditions for individual work, concentration, video conferences, online training and webinars. The booth can be ordered with additional stickers on the glass, ensuring privacy, thanks to the "frosting" effect. The stickers make the computer screen inside the booth difficult to see from the outside. A hushHybrid booth in the office means that employees no

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The new model of office work is already largely based on a hybrid system, in which we spend part of the week at home and the remaining days at the office.

Videoconferencing and remote work are standard parts of a regular working day.

longer have to worry about whether their phone calls and videoconferen­­ ­ces disturb their colleagues – even if the booths are located in the very center of the open space. HushHybrid gives users a maximum amount of space, occupying the smallest part of the office. If you need to rearrange your workplace, the hushHybrid can be easily moved around the office – the product is completely mobile. The wide range of booth colors lets you match it to any office interior.

– The hushHybrid booth is the latest product offered by Hushoffice, meeting all the needs of employees "here and now".

Hybrid work has never been as popular as it is today. It is not only a trend, but often an employer's requirement and employee expectation. The labor market of the future above all focuses on flexibility for everyone.

In this context, it should be understood as the ability to adapt the work environment to the work performed in the best condi­ tions for them. The hushHybrid booth fully meets these needs of employees – it is a multifunctional solution for work and videoconferencing, ensuring acoustic comfort and a safe working environment.

It is fully mobile and guarantees maximum use of space, occupying the smallest part of the office. HushHybrid is a "must have" booth dedicated to working in the "new reality” – says Mateusz Barczyk, Senior Brand Manager at Hushoffice.

For more information go to: www.hushoffice.com. Author:

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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BUSINESS

ALL SPACES ARE NOW VIDEO SPACES: THREE KEY CONCEPTS TO CONNECT IN-OFFICE AND REMOTE TEAMS The future of the workplace is hybrid and so is the future of collaboration. Sixty-eight percent of global organizations are planning to experiment with hybrid work, allowing employees to work partly in the office and partly at home or a third place to varying degrees. Even companies who will primarily be in the office will encounter hybrid work — some partners, suppliers and customers will expect to connect over distance — and that means people will be collaborating with a blend of remote and co-located teammates more than ever before.

Leading organizations are taking steps now to prepare for a significant increase in hybrid collaboration, as more people return to the office, so they can be as productive as possible. These organizations recognize how much they need the energy and vibe that drive innovation and growth, but understand if people struggle, they will retreat to their homes.

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HYBRID COLLABORATION IS COMPLEX – Starting now, every space is a video space. People are spending so much time adjusting camera angles, and figuring out content streams, they are losing the human connection and we need to make things easier – says Jessie Storey, Steelcase design manager who’s been working on improving the hybrid experience

for 15 years. The problems people faced pre-pandemic will only accelerate and masks and distancing won’t help, notes Storey. Issues people will struggle with are: • Inequitable environment – When remote teammates can’t see or hear, they have to work harder to be involved.

The root cause of that presence disparity is the poor integration of physical space and digital tools.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

• Complex connections – It’s tough to read body language, make eye contact and sense the group’s mood over video.

• Failing to engage – It’s hard to share content in a way that engages both in-person and remote participants. Can remote teammates see if someone is using a markerboard?

• Inhibiting innovation – Generating new ideas is the most difficult type of collabo­ ration. Being active can help people be more engaged and creative – that’s tough on video.

than a decade, aggregating key learnings about how to help teams work across distance. These insights can help organizations prepare for a future in which daily collaboration happens among a blend of co-located and remote participants, using diverse technology and high-performing spaces:

A HYBRID FUTURE + BYOD As organizations test new ways of working some variables will remain in flux: how many people will participate on both ends of a video call, how will employees own and share different types of collaboration spaces, and what hardware and software platforms will stick.

Other shifts are more certain – like a hy­­­­brid future and a BYOD (bring your own device) model. BYOD relies more heavily on workers’ mobile devices instead of completely integrated, dedicated room systems. By supporting and integrating a variety of hardware and software solutions, people can connect in the easiest and most productive ways for them.

RANGE OF SPACES + TECHNOLOGY To create the best possible hybrid work experience, organizations will want to offer a range of spaces and technology solutions to easily support diverse types of collaboration – from a planned creative session to an impromptu one-on-one and everything in between. – We need to focus on braiding the digital and the phy­sical – says Storey. – It’s not enough to just bring remote people into the space, we need to give those in the office a better virtual pre­sence by designing important elements like cameras, acoustics, content and lighting.

– It’s not enough to just bring remote people into the space, we need to give those in the office a better virtual presence – Jessie Storey, Steelcase Design Manager.

Equity

Equity Design experiences that eliminate the gap of not being co-located.

• Enable both remote and co-located participants to move around the room – mobile furniture and displays will help.

Remote team members shouldn’t always be “on stage” next to content.

• Use cameras on both shared and individual devices, especially for new teams.

Shared devices (room view) should be primary and individual devices (close up view) secondary.

• Help people feel confident on video by addressing on-camera, task and ambient lighting. Warm, intense LED lights just above head height and off to the side are best for video.

• Consider the space’s size, boundaries, materials and the direction of microphones and speakers for the best audio on both ends.

• Develop more intentional shared etiquette and protocols. (Read Collaboration in the Hybrid Workplace).

Office Collaboration to Rely More Heavily on BYOD

69%

of leaders plan to rely on user devices or both user devices and integrated tech.

Source: Global Return to Workplace Study, March 2021. Note: Of 8 countries studied, leaders in China expect to rely on user devices ot both user and integrated tech the least – only 48%

Engagement THREE KEY CONCEPTS FOR BETTER HYBRID COLLABORATION Steelcase researchers, designers and technology experts have developed collaboration solutions for global teams for more

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Use space and technology to foster natural and inclusive interactions for co-located and remote participants.

• Arrange remote and local participants, and digital and analog content to ensure equal participation. Some software

Engagement

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BUSINESS

It’s a great time to test new types of spaces by setting up a pilot that braids together the physical and the digital. The best advice is to invite employees to participate in any pilot.

Participation and open channels for feedback will send a message that nothing is set in stone.

platforms and integrated technology systems support the use of multiple displays which allow people and content to be separated creating a more equitable experience.

• Design for the camera’s field of view (i.e.

90, 120 degree). Make sure people and content can be seen by remote partici­ pants. AI-powered video conference cameras allow for a wide angle and new ways to enhance analog content virtually. Huddly’s Canvas is one content camera that works with Microsoft Teams and Zoom to improve whiteboard images by removing gloss and shadows, boost marker colors and hide people who might be in front of the camera.

• Use shared content creation tools that provide equal access to digital and analog information and enable multiple modes of collaboration (ex. digital workspaces like Mural).

a variety of devices and software solutions. While your organization may favor one platform, people making external connections may still need to use a variety of solutions.

PILOT. PARTICIPATE. PIVOT. As people begin to test out how to collaborate in new ways, technology and the workplace will continue to evolve. It’s a great time to test new types of spaces by setting up a pilot that braids together the physical and the digital. The best advice is to invite employees to participate in any pilot. Participation and open channels for feedback will send a message that nothing is set in stone. And, be prepared to pivot. As people experience the hybrid workplace they’ll make adjustments to how they are working and their environment, process and

Ease

Ease Enable simple and seamless transitions across multiple interfaces, displays and experiences.

• Shared devices should connect easily with personal devices and let people interact with both when necessary.

• Make sure both remote and co-located participants have clean sight lines to people and content. Flexible furni­ shings and/or the use of mobile devices allow you to move co-located or remote participants to give them the best view as the meeting evolves.

• The range of technology experiences should work together and pair with

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protocols will need to adapt as well.

A flexible workplace designed to evolve and adapt as people’s needs change will help poise organizations to compete and grow in the future. Author:

Wojciech Krupa, Strategic Account Manager, Workplace Consultant, Steelcase

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

BUSINESS

WE DO OUR BEST TO RESPOND TO OUR CLIENTS’ NEEDS AND EVOLVE ACCORDINGLY Interview with Martin Konieczny, Business Development Manager, j-labs software specialist.

Outsourcing&More: Germany – a challenge or a market bursting with business opportunities?

Martin Konieczny, Business Develop­ ment Manager, j-labs software specialist: To paraphrase the question, Germany represents a market bursting with opportunities precisely because it is a huge challenge! The entry threshold is definitely higher than in, let’s say, Scandinavia. At the same time, such a large market renders it a target for companies from all over the world. This makes it very difficult for a German client to choose whom they wish to talk to (and there is no time to talk to even 1 in 10 that reach out to them!) and whom they want to place their trust in. The onus is on the vendor – they have to stand out from the crowd for this conversation to take place.

IHK Munchen (case study link), where we has already been tried in terms of get­ting make use of the blockchain technology through to them: hiring a Germanto store and validate industry certificates. speaking salesman while the entire com­­­­ pany based in Poland speaks English German business – what kind of a client only; buying a front company in Germany are we talking about? Does coopera- while having the entire development in tion with German corporations require Romania; or having a team of so-called some kind of preparation or compe- ‘openers’ who speak German. Bearing tence in particular? For example, is it this in mind, I’ll say that nothing warrants necessary to know German? success in this department, i.e. there are That’s quite an extensive question, so no particular, individual actions that please allow me to split my answer into two shall prove successful – everything must parts; firts part is For example, is it neces­- be well thought through and consistent sary to know German? with the vision we have for our company.

Proficiency in German definitely helps to establish early contact. A lot depends on our strategy here – if we opt for cold e-mailing first, the language we choose to communicate in is up to us – and it will determine the number of responses we What industries in Germany reach receive. The situation shifts when such out to j-labs in Poland for support contact is established at conferences in most often?

Germany, then indeed many of them are j-labs supports the logistics, fintech, international and English is acceptable but and automotive industries most often. We it’s a sign of respect to exchange the first think logistics and fintech are the two in- few words in German. dustries that present the best opportunities at this moment in time. Logistics A lot depends on the industry. Fintech is – due to the sheer scale of business and thoroughly English-speaking; on the other the need for digitization, while fintech is hand, there are many traditional, German innovative at its core so there’s simply a lot companies across other industries where going on. the decision-maker wants and requires you to speak German. Interestingly, I have As j-labs, we also support the growing use been party to meetings on numerous of the blockchain technology; however, occasions where the CEO spoke good this is not dictated by the hype that took English yet the entire conversation took place before, but by actual use cases – place in German. here, it works really well in logistics or the healthcare industry. Finally, we can On the other hand, Germany is ‘probed’ officially boast about our cooperation with from all angles and, to be fair, everything

26

j-labs in Poland grows and develops its activities year on year. What’s the story on the German market? What is your development in Germany like and what are your plans for the coming years?

We do our best to respond to our clients’ needs and evolve accordingly.

Right now, a large part of our business is based around staff augmentation.

However, we nevertheless want to develop primarily towards outsourcing entire projects – which, within our pro­­­­prietary model, on the one hand enables clients to maintain closer control regar­­ ding costs/scope of the project, and on the other increases our responsibility for the delivered iterations.

In addition, we believe that we still have a lot of room for growth within logistics and Fintech, which includes banking/ finance sectors in general, both in terms of acquiring new clients as well getting involved in new business lines at our existing clients.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

We believe that we still have a lot of room for growth within logistics and Fintech, which includes banking/ finance sectors in general, both in terms of acquiring new clients as well getting involved in new business lines at our existing clients.

Do sales and the so-called ‘service deli­ very’ from Poland comprise the majo­ rity of your involvement in the German market, or are you building a team on the western bank of the Oder river?

We’re not ruling out that, at some point in the future, we will build a local team; however, this is not in our immediate plans at the moment. Our sales department works according to a campaign mo­del based on weekly visits to Germany every few weeks. We make ourselves available to our clients for face-to-face meetings, even though we mainly work remotely.

always gives rise to some challen­ges.

What was your biggest business challenge?

Learning the market was by far the big­­­­­g est challenge, adapting to the way of doing business in Germany, but probably – and most importantly – it was about getting to the bottom of who we are and who we want to be for our clients, and thus adjusting our message and our offer accordingly.

say that our success was possibly down to a miracle.

As j-labs we've come a long way in a relatively short space of time. We now boast 180 engineers who support our clients remotely and who are backed by an excellent back office team. j-labs stands for people sharing a passion and an in-depth knowledge of using technology to run a business – and it’s that group of people whom we owe our success to.

This gave us internal and external consistency, and therefore clients trust us right from the beginning. To put things into Thank you for the interview. Finally, a question about challen­ges. perspective, when we take a look at our Cooperation with foreign markets materials from 5 years ago we jokingly

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

27

BUSINESS

FROM ASSESSMENT THROUGH MOTIVATION TO INTERNAL AUDITS. EMPLOYEES AS THE KEY DRIVERS OF CHANGE IN AN ENTERPRISE The recent months have clearly shown that the only certain thing in business is change. A company that wants to survive the crisis and emerge without harm must learn to react quickly to new conditions. An effective change requires the commitment of not only the management board, but of employees in the first place. How can they be included in this process?

TIMATE’s team was thinking about the ways to enhance business operations and concluded that daily assessment of employees was the key. One of the reasons is that it enables simultaneous evaluation of enterprise mana­­ gement and business processes. No employee is an island: if they fail to perform tasks satisfactorily, their attitude results from the actions of other team members and and impacts these actions FIRST – ASSESSMENT at the same time. If we do not notice that Employee assessment is often perceived from the very start, we allow problems as a necessary evil. Employees are afraid to grow. After six months or one year, it of it, because they do not see its purpose, will take more time and costs to remedy while managers and HR departments the situation and implement any necestreat it as an additional time-consuming sary changes. Sometimes it will even be duty. Meanwhile, assessment has a great impossible due to the excessive resistance significance. It helps to discover and pro­- within the organisation. perly use the team’s potential and it shows employers and employers the expecta- That is why the TIMATE system – which tions set by the other party. It also allows in its basic version records and analy-­ to verify whether these expectations are ses the working time – now includes met and what can be improved for expec- the op­­­tion of employee assessment at the end of the business day within different tations to be fulfilled. areas. The assessment is performed autoUnfortunately, in most enterprises em­­­­ matically based on the working data ployee assessment is performed too collected by the system. Employees rarely to bring the anticipated benefits. get clear emoticons which inform them Entrepreneurs can reach out and get tools which they have known for years, but probably never saw the full potential of these tools. They are the employee assessment and the motivational system.

If properly implemented and supported by technologies, they can have a positive impact on the conduct of employees and, thereby, change business processes. How does it work?

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whether they have done their job as they should. A sad, neutral or smiling face is displayed on the employee's individual card/identifier.

What is the benefit? Both employees and employers get clear ongoing feedback, so they know right away if the working methods are actually effective. In the face of any problems, they can respond immediately by identifying and improving the areas that cause difficulties.

SECOND – MOTIVATION This ongoing evaluation can bring another benefit, i.e. it can become a motivational system for employees. If every working day that has a positive assessment gene­ ra­tes points which are then converted into rewards and bonuses, the company will have committed employees who will strive for the best results not only during the one month before the annual or semi-annual assessment.

Why is it so important? Because when a company allocates bonuses in a dis­­­­cretionary manner or according to vague criteria, it can really demotivate

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

(3) safety, e.g. wearing a helmet, keeping distances, reporting of accidents, including a call for help, and remote evacuations; (4) performance of tasks sent to the card; (5) standard plan performance at the given job position (the relevant data can be input directly into the TIMATE system or uploaded from external software via the API communication module; (6) management, where the manager’s final assessment is the average of the assessments of direct reports in each of the above areas.

THIRD – INTERNAL AUDIT Why implement such a system of assessment and motivation in an enterprise? First of all, in order to automate process changes. An assessment, especially if it is negative, sends the first alarming signal to managers and makes them take a closer look at the processes. It may turn out these processes are not fully optimal, e.g. employees wasting their precious time while waiting for the delivery of items they need for work; employees covering long distances everyday, because their workstation is exceedingly far from the locations they need to reach to get their job done, e.g. warehouses.

the employees. When bonuses are strictly correlated with the daily assessment, each employee knows the exact grounds for the amount of his or her bonus. Moreover, employees can actively influence this amount by working towards the best results in the tasks under assessment.

In consequence, the whole company's way of operation changes in a bottom-up model. Employees are more effective, because they want to, not because they are forced by their superior.

The TIMATE card evaluates work in six areas: (1) recording time and attendance (arrival and exit, breaks); (2) use of the working time, i.e. correlation between the employee motion patterns and the job position, e.g. a welder should be standing, a warehouse operator should be walking, an accountant should be sitting at the computer;

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

29

BUSINESS

Assessment and motivation which drive changes in the behaviours of employees and in how the enterprise functions form a completely new method of management, based on the technology called the Internet of Behaviours (IoB).

The observation of employees behave helps to better understand business operations. Moreover, it allows to identify the areas that need improvement.

Such a solution activates employees and makes them adopt the role of internal auditors. They are effectively motivated to do their tasks well and get positive assessments which mean higher bonuses.

So if while working they find an obstacle that is outside their control, e.g. an error in the process, they will be sure to report it to the superior. It is a win-win situation: managers win, because they get a reliable insight into how the company functions, they see causes of downtime, and they can quickly implement improvements and changes. On the other hand, employees win, because the work organi­ sation is enhanced, while the bonus system is objective and fair.

no significant value. They become signi­ ficant only when analysed.

IoB allows to convert data into know­ ledge about people and their patterns of behaviour. In other words, it takes the raw data from various sensors and elements of the Internet of Things (IoT) and then generates specific information on how we act and make decisions.

Moreover, it gives the opportunity to influence such behaviours. IoB means collecting and processing data as well as the use of such data to change the way people behave. This change will enhance the way an entire company functions on a daily basis.

A contemporary enterprise should be able to quickly adapt to the everchanging business environment. It will not achieve this without committed employees who will be the first to notice THE INTERNET OF BEHAVIOURS and report errors in various systems and – A NEW WAY OF ENTERPRISE initiate the process of error removal.

MANAGEMENT Their commitment can be increased Assessment and motivation which drive by the daily assessment correlated changes in the behaviours of employees with the motivational system as well and in how the enterprise functions form as by relevant technologies that will a completely new method of manage- provide necessary data and translate ment, based on the technology called into specific changes in how entire teams the Internet of Behavio­­urs (IoB). According and businesses operate. The foundation to Gartner, it is one of the key technology of such changes is the internal audit: trends in 2021. IoB is oriented around ongoing, more effective and much less human behaviours and interactions, costly than any external audit. allowing to understand and change them.

One should always remember that people are the core of each enterprise. More and more often, they carry various sensors, e.g. in smartphones, identifiers or devices used for daily work such as the TIMATE cards which collect data regarding locations, routes covered by the users and the sequence of designated actions or operations. But these data as such have

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Author:

Sebastian Młodziński, CEO, TIMATE

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

IN

PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY WE TRUST!

www.hubhr.eu

Employer Branding

HR Consulting

Permanent Recruitment

HUB HR is a boutique of HR services, the foundations of which are years of experience and fresh ideas.

If you need to make changes in your team, we will take over all recruitment processes and find an employee with the appropriate skills and attitude, or we will show you that you already have such people on the team. If your company experiences deficiencies in HR-related activities or you see that your processes are not working, we will conduct a comprehensive audit for you. We will indicate where your solutions fail and together we will create an appropriate action plan.

If you need any HR consultation, contact us via our website www.hubhr.eu or telephone 504 036 670.

HUB HR tel. 504 036 670

Al. Jerozolimskie 181B 02-222 Warszawa

MAIN INTERVIEW

SOUTH AFRICA

– ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING DESTINATION FOR BPO PROJECTS An interview with Rod Jones – Principal at Rod Jones Consulting (Pty) Ltd, South Africa.

Wiktor Doktór, Pro Progressio: Rod, it was a pleasure to have you in the group of speakers of The BSS Forum, which took place just before Summer of 2021 and where you were discussing nearshoring and offshoring business opportunities for US companies. Together with industry experts from Canada, US and Colombia you had a very interesting discussion. I must say I enjoyed a lot listening to you. That actually made me think more about South Africa, where you are based, as a destination for BPO projects. Before we go deeper into this subject tell us few words about yourself and your business activities, please.

Rod Jones, Rod Jones Consulting: For the past ten years I have operated independently as a CX, Contact Centre and BPO consultant, broker, industry analyst, blogger and at times serving as brand ambassador for various organisations focussing on buil­ ding reputation and sales in the South African BPO and contact centre sector. I actually star­ ted my business in 1972, the year that the first known ACD contact centre was deployed in the US by Rockwell Electronics for Continental Airlines. By the early 80s I had set up my own contact centre as a communications hub for my customer club and affinity marketing support company. I then migrated into ope­rating what I believe was amongst South Africa’s first BPO contact centres; a 200-seat operation located in Johannesburg. At that time – the early 90s, a few colleagues and

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I started the first call centre and BPO association in South Africa. In 2004 a partner and I formed what became a fairly large contract centre consulting, research, training, events and media business. I exited that business in 2010 and have operated independently ever since. With over 45 years of experience, my motto is “I help decision-makers to make good decisions about call centres, contact centres and BPO.” Thank you for that. So, now I know I talk to a right person to get more details about South Africa as the business des­­­­tination for BPO projects. Let’s touch some geography and logistics here – what are the main business cities in South Africa, which time zone it is and where are the international airports located?

With a land mass of 1.2 million square kilometres, South Africa is roughly twice the size of France and has a population of almost 60 million. The major business hubs are Cape Town (Population ±5 million), on the southern tip of Africa, Durban (Population ±3.5 million, located on the East coast considerably further north, and Johannesburg (population ±6 million) 1,500 kilometres North of Cape Town and inland from Durban by 500 kilometres. South African Standard Time (SAST) is GMT+2. Major international airports are located in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, all offering direct flights to multiple destinations in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

With over 45 years of experience, my motto is “I help decision-makers to make good decisions about call centres, contact centres and BPO.”

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

33

MAIN INTERVIEW

It is widely recognised that the overall South African contact centre industry comprises of approximately 2,500 contact centres employing in the region of 300,000 agents and middle management. Of these, roughly 70,000 South African agents are employed servicing ‘international’ or offshore BPO customers.

BPO and IT industries very much focus on availability of talent pool. What is the potential of talent pool in South Africa. How many universities and gra­­ du­ated you have there? Also, when Call Contact Centre or multilingual BPO/SSC is considered – what is the languages availability in your country?

Currently South Africa has 26 major universities and in addition, many specialised tertiary education and training institutions and facilities. An estimated one million youth (18–35 years old) enter the job market annually. These are gene­ rally fluent in conversational and written English and speak with neutral accent and have high EQ/empathy levels.

We also have strong cultural affinity with the UK, Australia, and increasingly, North America. In terms of outsourced and BPO contact centre services, whilst South Africa has an extremely large English-speaking workforce, only relatively small pockets of European and other international language agents are available.

We already have some view on people, so let’s go deeper – what are the salary levels in South Africa on the most popu­ lar jobs run in outsourcing or shared services industry. Is there a cost benefit for US or European or Australian clients?

South Africa offers major cost savings to source destinations such as Australia, the UK, and the US of in the region of 40– 45% on a steady-state operating basis (fully loaded or including all overheads). This is supplemented by a raft of highly attractive incentives that operators can access through the Department of Trade Industry

34

and Competition (dtic) and its specialist division, InvestSA. These incentives can potentially pay investors in this sector up to R290,000 (±$20,000) per new job created over a 5-year period and subject to certain terms and conditions.

To put South African BPO/GBS costs into perspective: • BPO (typical voice-based contact centre operating costs) ~45% lower than Tier 2 UK, North American and Australian Cities.

• BPS/GBS (non-voice business processing costs) ~40% lower than Tier 2 UK and North American and Australian cities.

Thank you for this. Let’s come back to major scale of the BPO. How many BPO/ SSC investments are there already in South Africa? How many people are employed in the industry and can you share some international brands of companies who run their operations successfully in South Africa?

It is widely recognised that the overall South African contact centre industry comprises of approximately 2,500 contact centres employing in the region of 300,000 agents and middle management. Of these, roughly 70,000 South African agents are employed servicing ‘international’ or offshore BPO customers. Many of the ‘big brand’ internatio­ nal BPOs have South African operations.

Just a few examples of these include the likes of WNS, Startek, Merchants, Webhelp, Capita, Exigent, EXL, Mindpearl and Teleperformance. These are supplemented by a rapidly growing group of mid to large scale South African

owned BPO operations such as IntelliBPO, CapabilityBPO, CallForce, Digicall, RewardsCo, Outworkx, SACommercial and iContact.

Rod, thank you a lot. I know you have written an e-book describing BPO in South Africa – what is within this e-book and where can it be downloaded from?

In April 2021, the globally recogni­ sed annual Ryan Strategic Advisory Front Office Omnibus Survey awarded South Africa the highly coveted accolade of being ‘The Most Favoured Offshore CX Delivery Location’. At that time, many in the global BPO fraternity wanted to know a lot more about why the South African BPO value proposition and the practica­ lities of operating BPO centres in South Africa that had led to our country receiving this prestigious endorsement.

As a consequence, during May of this year I carried out a series of interviews amongst local and international experts and compiled my findings into my eBook, ‘Why Offshore BPO to South Africa’. I have made this publication a freely available download from my website at https://rod­ jones.co.za/bpotosa.

Thank you very much for this talk.

I guess we need to look closer to South Africa, as this is promised land for BPO for a longer period of time.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

South Africa offers major cost savings to source destinations such as Australia, the UK, and the US of in the region of 40–45% on a steadystate operating basis (fully loaded or including all overheads).

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

INVESTMENTS NEWS

NEXT WELL CORE & SHELL CERTIFICATES FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS CONSTRUCTED BY SKANSKA. THIS TIME SPARK B AND GENERATION PARK Z IN WARSAW HAVE BEEN AWARDED Building B at the Warsaw Spark com­­­ plex and Generation Park Z are next Skanska office buildings which have received the WELL Core & Shell certificate at the Gold level from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) – the world's leader in assessing the impact of buildings on people’s health and wellbeing. This confirms that the developer has put people's mental and physical well-being first. This is the fourth and fifth Skanska project certified in Central and Eastern Europe.

In June 2020, in the midst of the global COVID-19 crisis that included a ban on international travel, Spark B received WELL Core & Shell pre-certification. Today, Spark B can boast full-fledged certification. This means that both buildings of this Wola complex meet the WELL certification criteria and are healthy, sustainable, and safe workplaces, where wellbeing is put in the center.

Both buildings thus join the ranks of Skanska's previously certified construction projects in Central and Eastern Europe – Spark C in Warsaw, Parkview and Praga Studios in Prague.

In addition to the WELL Core & Shell certification, Skanska office unit in Poland has also obtained the WELL Health-Safety Rating certification this year for nine of its construction projects in Poland, Romania and the Czech Republic – and that includes Spark B. The latest certification covers part of the guidelines under the WELL Building Standard and is verified

by impartial experts. The certification applies to both new and existing buildings and spaces. It’s focused on occupancy, maintenance protocols, occupant and operator involvement, and contingency plans.

Skanska surveyed office workers in four Central and Eastern European countries.

As many as 61% of them said they would feel safer in offices with the WELL HealthSafety Rating. This is particularly important in the context of returning to offices.

Skanska is aiming for the WELL HealthSafety Rating for all its office buildings.

A few months earlier – in April 2021, War­­­­saw Generation Park Z joined the group of Skanska office buildings with the prestigious WELL Core & Shell certificate. In March 2020, Skanska sold the building to Deka Immobilien, one of Europe's leading real estate investment companies.

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Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

THE AEBI SCHMIDT GROUP OPENS A CORPORATE SERVICE CENTRE IN KATOWICE, POLAND Photo: Jeremi Astaszow/Katowice City Hall.

LIFE SCIENCE REAL ESTATE DEMAND

According to Savills latest research using Pitchbook data, €13.2bn of venture capital (VC) was raised by European headquartered life science companies between 2014 and 2018, resulting in over 650,000 sq m of office and lab deals across selected European life science markets between 2016 and 2020. Biotechnology and nanotechnology industries are also developing rapidly in Poland.

Savills calculates that every €1bn of VC investment creates 46,000 sq m of life science real estate demand. Rolling this forward, the €10.2bn of capital invested during 2019 and 2020 indicates that approximately 474,000 sq m of new requirements from the life sciences sector will emerge between now and 2022.

New office space supply of 5.2m sq m, which is distributed across 24 markets in Europe, is due to be completed this year, with a similar amount of supply (5.1 m sq m) due in 2022.

However, Savills predicts that with half of this space already committed – 54% of new offices in 2021 already pre-let and 39% in 2022 – the life science industry will be competing with other occupiers for the best space in the right places, making it crucial for the sector to plan ahead and secure space as soon as possible.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The Aebi Schmidt Group, a global leader of smart product systems and services for the treatment of mission-critical infrastructural and agricultural areas, is setting up a Corporate Service Centre in Katowice, Poland, from 1 September 2021.

at different locations and thus the global talent pool is growing. At the same time, however, the "battle for talent" is intensifying – good employees are being recruited around the globe. Against this background, the management of the Aebi Schmidt Group has decided to estabIn Poland, the Aebi Schmidt Group already lish a Corporate Service Centre that can employs around 300 people in produc- provide sufficient resources to further tion and sales at its Kielce location; now, standardise and automate the group's a new Corporate Service Centre is being processes. Thus, the group is prepared established , which will initially support for the challenges of the future. the group in the areas of IT, finance, software engineering and master data Specialists are sought who, embedded in management. The plan is to expand international teams, contribute hand in the service centre over time with addi- hand with their international colleagues tional services and positions. to the success of the company. Due to the compact size, employees will also The changes in the workplace – digi- be able to quickly assume group-wide talisation, market consolidation and responsibility. The Corporate Services growing demands in terms of sustain- Centre is located in the newly opened ability – were accelerated and accentu- CitySpace serviced office, located in ated by the pandemic. Today, the tech- Katowice, in the modern Face2Face businical possibilities allow networked work ness building.

Pharmaceutical companies operating in Poland, usually own the production faci­ lities or laboratories in which they operate.

The exceptions are mainly represented by the company’s main offices, back offices or financial services centres, which are located in the different office buildings. According to Savills data, during the last five years, the annual take-up of pharmaceutical/life science companies in Poland was at the average level of 76,300 sq m per annum, with the largest volume recorded in 2016 (91,600 sq m).

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INVESTMENTS CASE STUDY

AN EXPERT'S VIEW – COREES POLSKA We assume that people are a fundamental part of an organization, where working comfort is dictated by the properly selected and balanced office space – and the form of work. From a company's perspective, an office is a place allowing to create a desired image among employees, which is supposed to encourage potential candidates to cooperate as well as increase the efficiency of everyday work. As our experience has taught us, remote work has diversified, on the one hand, the belief that only stationary work brings efficiency, but it has also shown that it is possible to rationally approach the implementation of business and office space in a more flexible way.

The decisions faced by organizations concern staying in the current location in the presently occupied space, remodeling the space or relocating. Decisions can have to do with plans to downsize or consolidate branches, or create an office structure in a hub & spoke model – with a central office and smaller satellite offices within the same city/agglomeration or smaller regional cities. Changes connected with the office influence various areas of an organization's activity: starting from conceptual issues when planning the functioning of particular departments, the employment process and its form, through onboarding employees, to the implementation of the optimal form of work (including remote and hybrid work) or the process of designing and implementing changes in the current organizational structures.

In terms of office space, what has certainly changed is the approach to the lease period to a more flexible one. Previously, it was standard to enter into leases for a fiveyear term. Currently, we can observe a trend in which tenants do not want to bind themselves for such a long time – the number of agreements for periods shorter than 5 years is increasing. Sublease options or flex offices, popularly known as coworking spaces, which do not enforce long-term lease terms on the tenant are becoming more and more popular. There are various options and models available on the market in this area as well – interesting solutions are also offered

by The Instant Group, which is our partner in Poland.

office market, increasing the total available office space in the regional markets alone to the sum of 150 thousand sqm.

As shown by the research, which Corees Polska conducted together with Antal (Model of Work and Efficiency and Employee Satisfaction ‘MPEZ’) 56% of companies do not plan or do not want to reduce their space. Such indications are, of course, correlated with the lack of clear decisions regarding the assu­ med further model of work and the pace / scope of the return to the office. At the same time, there are companies and industries which reduce space, but these are organizations which have already made decisions on the nature of the further formula or model of work.

SUBLEASING AS A WAY TO SAVE MONEY

The Corees and Antal report shows that many employees appreciate working FORCED FLEXIBILITY Due to remote working and low occu- from home, but would still like to return The flexibility to which we have been pancy of office space, many companies to the office. Possibly work in a hybrid forced by the pandemic – has become have decided to offer part of their space system, which allows for greater flexibility, a megatrend that we observe not only in for sublease, which has turned into one but provides what we lack most today, the approach to remote working. of the most practiced trends in the Polish namely contact with our work colleagues.

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Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

As shown by the research, which Corees Polska conducted together with Antal, 56% of companies do not plan or do not want to reduce their space.

PEOPLE FIRST – THEN PLACES Over the past year, it has become clear that the key element of any successful organization is its employees and their psychological well-being. They are crucial in maintaining, supporting or developing it. That is why talent management within an organization is so important. Noticing and taking into account employees' needs and expectations towards the employer and their environment from a functional, social, cultural and emotional perspective is proving crucial.

looking for new space for their organizations, must remember that the pandemic period was a test in which Poland gained in the eyes of international investors.

Our global back offices in SSC/BPO centers, did not stop their activities and continued conducted processes smoothly (in contrast to e.g. centers in India). The growing position of Poland is evidenced by the results of the research published in April 2021, which was conducted by Ryan Strategic Advisory.

Finding answers to questions about According to the report, Poland has employees' optimal preferences, and jumped into 3rd place worldwide and defining their ideal work space is the basis into 1st place in Europe as a top location for selecting an ideal office for the entire for Call Contact Center operations. This organization and the way its structures is an excellent prognosis for the Polish function. Additionally, it is a source office market and its further developof substantial knowledge for manage- ment after the pandemic. And at the same ment boards and HR and image depart- time it is a signal for companies present ments of many organizations. on the domestic market to make decisions about potential changes as soon as OPPORTUNITIES ON THE POLISH possible, to guarantee an attractive locaMARKET tion, on the most competitive lease terms, Hybrid and remote working models have for themselves. permanently changed our reality and have become part of the general awareness. ABOUT COREES POLSKA Ultimately, companies planning to rene- Corees Polska is an independent advisory gotiate leases associated with the reduc- firm offering a wide range of brokerage tion of space, or those that will consider services for tenants and commercial

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

property owners, providing support in the field of office, warehouse, retail, valuation and investment consulting.

Drawing on nearly 30 years of experience and a highly qualified team of advisors, Corees operates in major business centers as well as regional cities. The Corees team works with clients in a fully professional and transparent manner, in accordance with the highest international standards.

Flexibility, availability and partnership are at the core of all Corees' activities – from multi-level assignments to smaller projects involving the renegotiation of lease agreements or the search for new locations. As far as additional services accompanying transaction processes are concerned, Corees Polska offers legal, design, architectural and fit-out services. www.corees.pl 

Author:

Marek Ciunowicz, CEO, Corees Polska

39

INVESTMENTS

NEW RULES FOR INVESTMENT SUPPORT

– A TAILOR-MADE GRANT! The year 2020 was undoubtedly exceptional and brought many changes for the modern business services industry – in Poland and Europe, as well as worldwide.

A YEAR FULL OF CHALLENGES In 2020, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) supported 44 projects from the BSS sector and 15 from the R&D sector – despite investors’ caution in the first and second quarter, the end of the year resulted in exciting projects, the effects of which were already visible at the beginning of 2021. Interestingly, several companies from the BSS sector have decided to locate their investments in Poland, even though the investors could not personally come to the country due to the pandemic.

Making such a decision at a distance is not easy. Still, at PAIH – thanks to our flexibility and ability to face new challenges – we have adapted our activities to the existing conditions.

mentioning that when it comes to projects located in the Polish Investment Zone in the first half of 2020, 75% of them were Polish companies.

NEW RULES OF SUPPORT FOR NEW INVESTMENTS

In response to the investors’ needs, to stimulate investment in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Programme for the Support of Investments of Signi­ ficant Importance to the Polish Economy for 2011–2030 (the ‘Programme’) was amended on 25 March 2021. New investments can receive support in the form of a government grant of up to 25% of eligible costs or up to PLN 20,000 for each new job created. The level of support As the Polish Investment and Trade depends on the location of the investAgency, we provide comprehensive and ment and the number of quality criteria free of charge support to investors at met. The current rules will be in force every stage of the investment process. until the end of this year, with a possiAs a bridge between private investors and bility of extension. state institutions, we listen to the needs of entrepreneurs and respond to them. The modification of the Programme According to data from fDi Markets – included four main aspects: a cross border investment monitor run by 1. Lowered entry thresholds (necesthe Financial Times – Poland is the third sary outlays to be incurred and jobs most preferred location in the world to be created), making support availfor foreign investors. Undoubtedly, such able to a larger group of entrepreneurs. a good result is due to a stable economy, Thanks to that, support is available educated and proactive employees and not only to companies that can implewell-tailored support tools. To a large ment large investments, but also to extent, the instruments of public aid companies from the micro, small and adjusted to the market situation may medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. be the deciding factor for implemen­ This solution will allow for adjusting ting investment in Poland. It is worth the requirements to the capabilities

40

of entrepreneurs, taking into conside­ ration the scale of their activity, thus preventing the elimination of smaller entities from the support system.

2. Modified quality criteria – many entrepreneurs combine the grant with the CIT exemption obtained under the Polish Investment Zone (PIZ). Thanks to simplification and clarification of quality criteria, as well as a direct reference to the act on supporting new investments (PIZ), com­bining support instruments is now even easier!

3. Simplification of the application pro­­­ cedure – it has been possible to abandon the lengthy application procedure invol­ ving external entities.

4. Individual approach to the entrepre­ neur – in some cases it is possible to lower declared by the investor quantitative criteria. This allows for a more individual approach to entrepreneurs and the problems they may have to face in the current economic situation.

Noteworthy, a new category of develo­ping entrepreneur has also been introduced, i.e. an entrepreneur employing less than 1,000 people, whose annual turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 250 mil­­­ lion. They can benefit from entry thresholds reduced by half. This is a significant facilitation for many companies which have lost the status of medium-sized entrepreneur and thus lost the opportunity to benefit from many public aid programmes aimed at the SME sector.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

An investment in a Business Services Centre can be supported up to PLN 15,000 for each newly created job, while Research and Development Services Centres can count on a grant of up to PLN 20,000 for each new employee or up to 25% of the investment costs.

Support is available not only to enterprises that can implement large investments, but also to companies from the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector. This solution will allow for adjusting the requirements to the capabilities of entrepreneurs.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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INVESTMENTS

WHAT COSTS CAN BE COVERED

BY THE GOVERNMENT GRANT?

A great mechanism is also the possibility of obtaining an additional training grant.

Under the Programme, support is granted In case of offering training and opportunibased on: eligible costs of creating new ties to improve professional qualifications jobs (2-year labour costs) or eligible invest- to employees, support may be increased ment costs, and covers both manufac- even up to PLN 7,000 per one employee. turing and BSS investments.

It’s worth remembering that according to the Programme, a large entrepreneur According to data from fDi Markets is obliged, during the period of maintaining the investment, to incur costs in – a cross border investment monitor the scope of cooperation with entities run by the Financial Times – Poland forming the system of higher educais the third most preferred location tion and science or with secondary in the world for foreign investors. schools in the amount of at least 15% of the value of the granted subsidy.

The investors serviced by PAIH appreSupport under the costs of creating ciate the wide range of forms of coope­ new jobs is provided for investments ration – from offering internships or co-­ in the Business Services Centre and in -­organising courses, through participathe Research and Development Centre tion in the ‘Implementation Doctorate’ (the latter may also apply for support programme, to e.g. equipping schools under the investment costs). with the necessary equipment.

The Business Services Centre is an investment in the modern business services sector, in which specific processes are implemented, with investment costs of at least PLN 1 million and the number of new workplaces amounting to at least 100. In the case of having the status of SME, these requirements are significantly reduced. A micro-entrepreneur can apply for support by creating only 10 new jobs and incurring outlays of PLN 300,000.

On the other hand, a Research and Deve­ lopment Service Centre is an investment in the modern business services sector with investment costs of at least PLN 1 million and the number of new jobs for people with higher education is at least 10, in which only processes consisting in the provision of research and development services are realised.

The PAIH’s Centre for Strategic Investments is responsible for providing information on government grants. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis. However, it is crucial that the investment has not been commenced before submitting the application for state aid. As the Polish Investment and Trade Agency, we support investors not only by providing macroeconomic, human resources, legal and sectoral data or by advising on the choice of an appropriate location, but we also take care to plan together with the investor the schedule of the investment implementation and application for support – so that the whole process runs smoothly. In this context, it is also worth bearing in mind the change in the regional aid map planned from 2022, related to the EU regulations on state aid.

The available levels of support will change HOW CAN I APPLY FOR SUPPORT? in some regions of Poland. For this reason, The operator of the Programme and it is worth considering your company’s the authority granting state aid is development plan now to be ready the Minister responsible for the economy. for the upcoming changes and make The Polish Investment and Trade Agency a timely decision.

In 2020, the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) supported 44 projects from the BSS sector and 15 from the R&D sector – despite investors’ caution in the first and second quarter, the end of the year resulted in exciting projects, the effects of which were already visible at the beginning of 2021.

(PAIH) is responsible for preparing and providing the Interministerial Committee with the dossier of investment projects and for preparing all documents required to carry out the entire procedure of providing financial support. Each WHAT SUPPORT CAN I COUNT ON? project is subject to an individual assessAn investment in a Business Services ment by the Committee based on criteria Centre can be supported up to PLN 15,000 laid down in the Programme. for each newly created job, while Research and Development Services Centres can The Programme is entirely financed count on a grant of up to PLN 20,000 from the state budget. The support is for each new employee or up to 25% granted in the form of a grant on the basis of the investment costs (depending of a bilateral agreement concluded on which of these amounts is higher). between the minister competent for economy and the investor. The agreeThe final amount of the grant depends ment regulates in detail the conditions on the location and the number of quality for the payment of the grant, maintaining criteria met. the principle that the grant is paid out

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in proportion to the degree of fulfilment of the obligations.

I encourage you to contact us already at the stage of initial investment plans – the experienced, business-oriented team of the Centre for Strategic Investments will make sure that your investment process runs as smoothly as possible.

Author:

Zofia Kilian, Senior Consultant, Centre for Strategic Investments, Polish Investment & Trade Agency

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

INVESTMENTS

BUSINESS SERVICES SECTOR IN POLAND CAN BENEFIT FROM THE NEARSHORING TREND

BY ATTRACTING COMPANIES WHICH LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES CLOSER TO HOME

The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has directed investors' attention to strategies based on nearshoring. A resilient location, mature labour market, diverse office space choice as well as attractive investment incentives are major reasons why Poland can benefit from this trend.

In the wake of the disruption of the glo-­­­­­ bal supply chains caused by COVID-19, nearshoring (relocating operations closer to a company’s country of origin) is on the rise again, with the attention of many investors being drawn to Poland. Major reasons in favour of the domestic market are undoubtedly the country’s well-quali­ fied labour market and one of the most attractive investment incentives schemes in Europe. Yet another is that Poland has one of the most competi­tive and diverse office markets in Europe.

– Our observations show that companies which provided business services from further afield, such as Asian countries, have faced incomparably greater disruption than those that had developed European hubs before the pandemic. This again is drawing the attention of many foreign companies to nearshoring, and increasingly to Poland, which is perceived as a safe bridgehead for many strategic business processes.

As a result, just as after the global finan­ cial crisis, we may expect a significant inflow of new outsourcing investments, which in recent months is illustrated by the growing number of potential investors from Scan­ dinavia, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Switzerland – comments Mateusz Bonca, CEO, JLL Poland.

POLAND AHEAD OF THE COMPETITION – Poland’s strategic location at the heart of Europe, its modern IT infrastructure, qualified labour force as well as attractive grants and incentives system are undoub­ tedly assets that can attract new investors.

44

Last year, Poland again proved to be a safe haven for businesses and confirmed its strong macroeconomic fundamentals and resilience in times of crisis. It very well matches an important site selection prere­ quisite to locate in the markets that can offer stable economic environment and ensure the continuity of critical business proces­­ ­ses – emphasises Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik, Business Location Consulting Director, EMEA, JLL. What is more, in the Doing Business 2020 ranking, in which the World Bank's eco­­­­ nomists evaluate regulations facilita­­ting business activity, Poland scored 76.4 out of 100 points, which translated into 40th position among 190 analysed world eco­­­­­nomies. Poland’s performance exceeded those of other Central and Eastern European countries, including the Czech Re­­­­ pu­­blic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

The Polish economy is also not far behind Western European countries such as Germany and France, which scored 79.7 and 76.8, respectively. Furthermore, ac­­­­ cor­­ding to EY Europe's Attractiveness Survey, Poland ranked first in the region and seventh in Europe in terms of the num-­­­­ ber of inward FDI in 2020.

and functions, and the creation of key deci­ sion-making centres in the country that follows. In addition, Poland is attracting not only companies from IT, modern tech­ nologies and the finance sector but also pharmaceutical and medical device indus­ tries, which see the potential in the devel­ opment of the clinical research sector in our country – says Łukasz Grzeszczyk, Executive Director – Client Relations, Hays.

Interestingly, investors seek labour mar­­­­­­kets that offer a balance between the com­­­­petence, experience and flexibility of employees with labour costs. This means more interesting career opportunities for Polish experts with a strong local BSS background as corporations are interested in local senior managers to lead their business units.

– Preferred locations are those where it is possible to find a seasoned site leader who has experience in building a similar struc­ ture, in-depth knowledge of the local market and expertise alike. That way, the investor swiftly gains unique local capacities and does not have to carry out a complex and costly relocation of high-level employees – says Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik.

HUMAN CAPITAL IN THE SPOTLIGHT

GRANTS STRENGTHEN INVESTOR APPETITE

– Poland is perceived by investors as a mature and diversified business location, offering extensive access to skilled workers.

As a result, foreign companies are increa­ singly choosing to relocate senior positions to Poland, meaning a rise in the implemen­ tation of increasingly advanced processes

– The pandemic made many business services companies put on hold their growth plans. We can say that this initial shock is already behind us. For some time now, we have been seeing an increasing number of the companies from around the world locate in Poland their centres which

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

“Preferred locations are those where it is possible to find a seasoned site leader who has experience in building a similar structure, in-depth knowledge of the local market and expertise alike. That way, the investor swiftly gains unique local capacities and does not have to carry out a complex and costly relocation of highlevel employees” – Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik.

provide not only transactional services but also operations. US and Western Euro­ pean investors appreciate great value for money: skilled employees pools at still competitive cost levels. Moreover, Poland creates an additional incentive for potential investors – attractive state aid programmes.

Recently, the investment incentives scheme has been amended with the aim to better address the needs and expectations of inves­ tors – commented Iwona Chojnowska-­ -Haponik.

Major changes to the government's grant programme include lower entry criteria, simplified qualitative assessment of invest­­­ment projects, and a higher level of sup­­­­port in select locations. These changes are in line with the current trends shaping the modern business services sector. It is worth stressing that Poland is one of the EU countries that offers the highest possible level of support for new investments ranging from 10% in Warsaw to 50% in four regions in Eastern Poland.

– Previously, in order to receive finan­ cial support, a company which estab­ lishes a business services centre had to create at least 250 jobs and invest PLN 1.5 million. Now, a large investor making its

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

first investment or expansion on the Polish market is asked to hire 100 people and incur capital expenditure of PLN one million within a five-year period. However, the level of grant depends on the quality assessment of the project – comments Rafał Szajewski, Business Location Consulting Director, EMEA, JLL.

SERVICES GO HAND IN HAND WITH OFFICES When compared to the CEE region, the Po-­­­­ lish office market is characterized by a number of office hubs. Poland offers as many as nine attractive office destinations, including Warsaw, which has been ranked as the 11th most competitive location in the world, in terms of occupancy costs for premium office buildings. According to JLL, the total office stock in Poland now stands at over 12 million sqm. The balance between Warsaw and regional markets is pretty much evenly distributed (less than 6.1 million sqm vs. over 5.9 million sqm).

may opt for established office markets or emerging local markets, which can be a viable alternative for companies looking for a second or third location for outsourcing operations.

– Poland has all the arguments in its favour to confirm its dominant position among the world's elite destinations in the busi­ ness services sector. Importantly, business is now won to a much greater extent through innovation, sophistication and high quality output, as well as the specialization of processes delivered in Polish centres. In order to make good use of this opportunity, it is key to ensure an effective utilisation of investment incentives and grants, legisla­ tive stability that enables long-term plan­ ning, as well as working on maintaining the attractiveness of the domestic labour market. The implementation of sustaina­ bility measures will become an increasingly important factor and will also need to be addressed – says Mateusz Bonca.

Furthermore, Poland provides a wide array of location choices thanks to a well-­ Author: -developed office space offering, inclu­­ ding more traditional locations as well as interesting flex options. Depending on the size and type of activities, investors

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INVESTMENTS

KAUNAS ON THE RISE:

HOW LITHUANIA’S SECONDLARGEST CITY BRINGS ABOUT FIRST-CLASS QUALITY

Kaunas, the home of 400,000 inhabitants, has been getting more attention recently due to the fact that it’s the European Capital of Culture 2022.

Known for its intact Modernist architecture and home to BC Žalgiris – a basketball club with a true cult following, Kaunas is also a dynamic business hub, with strong engineering and tech traditions. In this short article, I’d like to share the latest developments and point out the things that make Kaunas a city worthy to watch in the nearest future.

A CITY PRIMED FOR EXCELLENCE IN IT Universities very much shape the cities’ cultures and Kaunas is no exception.

Home to Kaunas University of Technology – the largest tech and engineering school in the Baltics – Kaunas always has a steady supply of STEM talent. No less important to the city’s educational success is Vytautas Magnus University – an interdisciplinary liberal arts university that’s indispensable in preparing students with skills that match the demands of tomorrow.

More than half of all the city’s students are in STEM or Life Sciences, and there are about 3,500 IT students in the pipeline at any given time.

When it comes to the ways Lithuanians use this IT talent, one should look no

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further than the scope and success of TeleSoftas and NFQ – two of the country’s largest homegrown Software Development companies. Both of them started out at Kaunas Science and Technology Park, the country’s largest innovation community, responsible for incubating more than 400 companies in its lifetime.

THE OFFICE GAME

Home to beautiful Modernist architecture, Kaunas was not exactly known for prime office space, but this is changing at a very rapid pace. According to the data collected

by Newsec, the total office stock has more than doubled over the last 4 years, and stood at 256,800 sq m at the end of 2020.

Premium quality and exquisite loca– Technological thinking combined with tion choices are one of the main drivers the right mindset has brought Kaunas to for office space development in Kaunas, stand out as a hidden tech hub gem where with expansion of class A supply constiseveral startups that are shaping the world tuting around a fifth of all office stock. are being developed. Not so many people know that a number of global brands run The supply of the highest quality office on digital technologies engineered here in space is only bound to grow, with around Lithuania. And demand for our talents and 24,440 sq m to be added in the next couple know-how is rising fiercely – says Paulius of years. Out of all the new projects in Insoda, CEO at NFQ Technologies.

Kaunas, MAGNUM business centre, located in the newly formed Kaunas CBD, is currently The city’s potential has not been left the biggest. It hosts 18,000 sq m of Class unnoticed by foreign investors, as Kaunas A office space equipped with the most innohas successfully attracted a number vative solutions on the market. The building, of IT companies. Interestingly enough, divided into smaller premises, can host up a signifi­cant number of them come from to 1,700 employees. the US, including Devbridge, Virtustream, Bentley Systems, CUJO AI and The vacancy level in Kaunas goes hand Oracle, outsourcing veterans Centric, in hand with rapid construction of new software developers Hyarchis and Macaw, offices, rising to an average of 14.03% in among others.

2020 compared to 11.4% the year before.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Home to beautiful Modernist architecture, Kaunas was not exactly known for prime office space, but this is changing at a very rapid pace.

Copyright: A. Aleksandravičius.

The growth in the supply of office space in Kaunas that has been happening for the past several years, is expected to keep rental rates competitive during 2021, truly making it a tenants’ market. Kaunas is also actively responding to the global demand of flexible office space solutions.

The number of flexible workspaces in 2020 amounted to more than 3,400 sq m of workstations created.

Home to Kaunas University of Technology – the largest tech and engineering school in the Baltics – Kaunas always has a steady supply of STEM talent. More than half of all the city’s students are in STEM or Life Sciences, and there are about 3,500 IT students in the pipeline at any given time.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Technology University has never disap­ pointed us – they are far-sighted, advanced and appreciating the long term relationship.

Winning the award in the Attractive European City and Regions categories by fDi Magazine, Kaunas can easily give investors a run for their money. And if you thought Vilnius was an unsaturated location (which it is, with just 30.3 per 1000 residents working in GBS centres), Kaunas provides WHO’S ALREADY HERE? even more room for growth, with around In recent years, the Kaunas GBS sector has 10 per 1000 residents employed by the GBS experienced significant expansion, with industry, and high-quality offices 15-20% global names like Dematic, FESTO, and cheaper than in the country’s capital.

TransUnion choosing Kaunas as the most suitable destination for their operations. In Working with existing and potential invesaddition to them, Kaunas hosts GBS and ICT tors, Kaunas IN, the city’s tourism, investcentres of such demanding corporations ment and international marketing develas cloud solutions pioneers Oracle, Danish opment agency, is always ready to build adtech giants Adform and French software new bridges. Who knows, maybe 2022 will company veterans Dassault Systemes. be a year of not just cultural celebrations, but also ribbon-cutting ceremonies? I can’t – Kaunas-based universities provide us with wait to find out! the right talent that fits our parent compa­ ny's mold and can perform on a truly global Author: level. It's a pleasure to see such a high level of English proficiency and tech know-how in most of our candidates and hires. Talents are working from Kaunas, but the solutions they have developed and created reach busi­ nesses and customers all around the world – Tadas Stankevičius, says Gitana Strazdauskė, Managing Director Director, at Dassault Systemes in Kaunas. – Kaunas Kaunas IN

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INVESTMENTS WINNER OF 2021

OUTSOURCING STARS

TRUST MORE IMPORTANT THAN AWARDS. POMERANIA IS OPEN FOR GLOBAL BUSINESSES

Interview with The President of the Board of Directors of The Pomerania Development Agency (PDA), Mr. Łukasz Żelewski.

Katarzyna Czylok-Dąbrowska, Pro Pro­­ gressio: Mr. President, first of all, we congratulate you once again on this year's Outsourcing Stars 2020 title, awarded in June by Pro Progressio.

What does this award mean to you and the entire Invest in Pomerania team? Łukasz Żelewski, President of the Board of Directors of PDA: The Outsourcing Stars 2020 is a confirmation of the success of cooperation between businesses and cities.

The Tricity is one organism that works together to create a friendly place for both investors and residents. For the Invest in Pomerania team, this award is a confirmation of a job well done, especially during this special time, which brought new challenges to everyone. I believe that we have lived up to them and showed that we can do even more.

the Medium and Small Cities and Rising Cities categories. The ranking is published by the acclaimed and prestigious fDi ma­­ ga­zine, part of the Financial Times group.

However, awards are not our main goal.

We are constantly working to increase the investment competitiveness and attractiveness of our region. The recognition is just a confirmation that we are holding the right course and a motivation to care even more.

The Pomeranian Voivodeship is the fastest growing region in Poland.

What drives this development?

What drives the development is Pomerania’s strategic location at the crossroads of international transport routes, dynamically developing seaports and airport, increasingly better transport acThis year you can boast of other prizes cessibility and logistics facilities. These and high places in the rankings... factors and the quality of life attract busiWe have been awarded the title of nesses, potential employees and investors Euro­­­pean Entrepreneurial Region 2020, to the region. one of the key distinctions awarded for a good and forward-looking strate- The region also records the highest natural gy for the development of entrepreneur- growth rate in the country and a positive ship in the region. It’s worth mentioning migration balance, which gives investors that we ranked 4th in the Tech Cities of constant access to a talented workforce. the Future 2020/21 – FDI Strategy ranking.

We are also in the top five of the Global It is also worth emphasizing issues such Cities of the Future 2021/22 ranking in as a diversified economy, advanced R&D

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facilities, concentration of qualified per­­­­­sonnel, or an advanced system of investor service and support. These factors also influence the current situation of the region.

Consistency and determination shown by the Regional Government for over a dozen years is also very important.

Thanks to the long-term approach, it is possible to carry out projects without the threat that the next political cadence will undo the previous achievements.

Which industrial and business sectors are key in the Pomeranian Voivodeship?

I know that in recent years the modern business services sector has seen record growth in the region.

BSS is currently the fastest growing sector in Pomerania. Even in a difficult 2020, nearly 2,000 new jobs were created and the number of centres exceeded 160.

The region specializes in areas such as software development, artificial intelligence, compliance, AML – anti-money laundering or KYC – know your customer. Over the last 10 years, the industry has seen a dynamic development accompanied by a boom in the market for modern office properties.

During this time, employment in the sector has increased fivefold and exceeded 30,000 employees last year.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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INVESTMENTS

But, BSS is not the only sector driving the regional economy. Thanks to intelligent infrastructure development, the region makes strategic use of its location and attracts prestigious industrial and logistics projects. We are currently one of the hottest warehouse markets, and the Tricity has become a transport Hub for Central and Eastern Europe.

The Outsourcing Stars 2020 is a confirmation of the success of cooperation between businesses and cities.

The Tricity is one organism that together creates a friendly place for both investors and residents. For the Invest in Pomerania team, this award is a confirmation of a job well done, especially during this special time, which brought new challenges to everyone.

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On the production side, industries related to the maritime industry are naturally developing very fast. We have been operating on the European electromobility map for some time due to the fantastic Northvolt project and we are working at further investments in this area. In addition to electromobility, projects related to autonomous vehicles also stand out. We already have extensive experience here. It is enough to look at the Intel research and development centre, where data processing technologies used in autonomous cars are being

developed, or the Aptiv plant producing cameras and panels supporting auto­ nomous driving. Our competencies in the field of IT technology development and electronics design and production predestine Pomerania to become a key Polish location for modern automotive and related industries.

Pomeranian is seen as one of the most friendly places to live and work in Poland, but also in Europe. It's certainly not just about access to the sea and beaches.

Pomerania is one of the best places to work, live and study. Our region offers much more than just its attractive location. We are one of the few agglomerations with intelligent specializations that have led to the creation of an ecosystem based on creativity, cooperation and a friendly business environment. What additionally distinguishes Pomerania is the awareness of values such as solidarity

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

and integration serving the development of business and improving the quality of life of the inhabitants, as well as a wide educational offer. Our openness and qualities of the region are confirmed by the fact that we have gained the trust of companies from all over the world – among others from Japan, China, USA, Scandinavia, Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, Middle East and India – despite their various business experience, organization and work culture.

In addition, initiatives such as Live more.

Pomerania & Jobs@Pomerania, work to attract investors and create direct links between employers and potential employees from around the world.

The Tricity is one of the main centres for the development of Artificial Intelligence in Poland, according to the report of Digital Poland "Map of Polish AI". How did you manage to become the Polish Silicon Valley?

The common landscape of artificial intelligence in Pomerania consists of a long-standing presence of global brands such as Intel and Amazon, as well as international successes of startups.

The Tricity AI community is also building events, institutions and venues such as the AI Digital Innovation Hub, a series of meetings held by the Infoshare Foundation, the "IT Manager of Tomorrow" conference, dozens of meetups and programming marathons.

In addition, well-developed technical and scientific infrastructure, i.e. technology parks, incubators and accelerators.

All this is complemented by a rich educational offer at public universities, as well as the possibility of improving qualifications in private coding schools, which have a direct impact on the high number of well-trained graduates. For these reasons, we have created the www.aipomerania.com website that showcases companies, institutions, local products and services developed on the basis of artificial intelligence. The Tricity has every predisposition to become a key technological centre in this part of Europe, and AI is just one of several areas where we are actually very successful. Just look at the achievements of local IT developers in

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

BSS is currently the fastest growing sector in Pomerania. Even in a difficult 2020, nearly 2,000 new jobs were created and the number of centres exceeded 160. The region specializes in areas such as software development, artificial intelligence, compliance, AML – anti-money laundering or KYC – know your customer. Over the last 10 years, the industry has seen a dynamic development accompanied by a boom in the market for modern office properties.

the area of aviation and navigation, where, as with AI, in cooperation with companies, we have created another initiative called the Aviation Hub.

Inopa office building, and the historic Dyrekcja building, which has now become an interesting conference and office space.

The distinguishing feature of these offices is their quality, not only in terms of safety I recently visited Gdansk. The sur- standards, which the buildings meet, but roundings of Motława, Stary Maneż or also all the amenities that companies offer the Gdańsk Shipyard make a striking their employees. This trend of modern impression. Please tell us about some office spaces in historical buildings further gems – investments from the last 2-3 encourages relocation to the Tricity – with years, which must be seen. us you can not only get an interesting job What makes these places particular- but also work in an inspiring environment. ly attractive is their hybrid urban nature which is a unique mix of business, leisure For 10 years Invest in Pomerania has and residential facilities. The MIPIM Award been helping investors implement (the Oscar of the construction industry) investment projects in Pomerania. given to the Granaria project is indicative What support can investors count of the important part the unique architec- on specifically? ture plays in this area.

The motto of Invest in Pomerania is "we care more", which is why our support In this context, the landscape resolution is always tailor-made. At the outset adopted by Gdańsk, soon to be adopted of the investment project, a project

by Gdynia, is also worth mentioning – our manager is assigned, who takes care cities are trying to make the inhabitants of the investor throughout the process. live in an aesthetic environment, without The first level of support is the prepathe overwhelming amount of motley ration of reports and analyses, assisadvertisements and banners, which tance in establishing contact with local essentially affects the level of quality authorities and partners and organizing of life and provides an additional argu- a local visit. Following the decision to ment for moving to the Tricity. open the centre, Invest in Pomerania assists in PR, marketing and Employer It is also necessary to mention the modern Branding activities that build the employoffice buildings providing safe and healthy er's brand on the labour market and workplaces for companies to expand. provides support in accessing candidates.

Proactive actions by the local developers The investor can also count on post-investwill soon see Tricity exceeding million ment care, integrating into the local busisquare metres of modern office space. ness community, support in the process of legalizing the stay of foreigners and A few new investments worth mentioning others. Invest in Pomerania also offers are Olivia Prime B in the Olivia Busi- a relocation grant of PLN 10,000 to facili­ ness Center complex or the Wave office tate the relocation of key employees to building of Skanska. In the rejuvenated the region. shipyard, it is worth paying attention to Cavatina's Palio A building, the C300 Thank you for the interview.

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INVESTMENTS

I BELIEVE THAT ELBLĄG FACES ON OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME AN IMPORTANT ECONOMIC CENTRE OF NORTHERN POLAND Interview with Mariusz Domeradzki, President of Board of Operator ARP sp. z o.o.

Outsourcing&More: Mr. President, in 2018, the Industrial Development Agency (in Polish: ARP) created an initiative called the “Factory Programme”.

What are the main features of this project and which cities have been selected for it?

Mariusz Domeradzki, Operator ARP sp. z o.o.: The Factory Programme is part of a broader strategy for sustainable development of the country. At the outset, the problem of so-called “two-speed Poland” was diagnosed, i.e. growing development gap between the largest metro­ po­lises and medium-sized and small cities which have been experiencing an increasing outflow of inhabitants and a gradual loss of economic functions year by year.

The Industrial Development Agency, while creating the assumptions for the programme, wanted to activate the potential of medium-sized cities by building premium office space. Modern service and office facilities located in attractive locations are expected not only to attract new business operators to the city – mainly from the innovative business services sector – but also to activate local entrepreneurship and be a showcase for the city. In autumn 2020 the Industrial Development Agency entrusted our company with the implementation of the Programme. Elbląg is definitely one of our priority locations, while also in Stalowa Wola and Włocławek we are implementing projects which are already well advanced.

location at the crossroads of transportation routes, large human resources potential, attractive locations offered by the city authorities. The list of advantages of this city is long. I am convinced that regional cities – such as Elbląg – will attract

more and more investors. I am glad that Operator ARP sp. z o.o. will be a pioneer in creating premium service and office space in this city. It also needs to be emphasized that it will be the first A-class office building in Elbląg.

What attracted your attention to Elbląg? Why have you chosen this city?

Favourable investment conditions, committed local government, excellent

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Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Elbląg is a city connecting two pro­ vinces. It is the second largest city in the Warmia and Masuria Province, but it is slightly closer to Gdańsk than to Olsztyn. How does this location of Elbląg benefits the development of entrepreneurship in northern Poland?

The location and history of Elbląg should not be underestimated. It is not only the former capital of the Elbląg Province, but also the oldest city in the Warmia and Masuria Province and one of the oldest in the country. Due to its location it is an important urban centre of the north-eastern Poland. The city is situated at the crossroads of transportation routes providing easy access not only to Tri-City, Olsztyn or Bialystok, but also to Warsaw. What is more, in Elbląg business operators are offered all the advantages of a medium-sized city – lower costs of doing business related to salary expectations different than in big cities,

mainly due to lower living costs and lower rotation of employees. I believe that Elbląg faces on opportunity to become an important economic centre of northern Poland, being an alternative to Tri-City.

So far Elbląg has been mainly associated with production-related investments. The main reason for that was low availability of office space where, for example, IT or BPO companies could develop their businesses. How does Elbląg want to attract investors from the innovative business services sector?

Is any office upheaval being prepared in the city?

This upheaval will take place on many levels. Thanks to the investment the Wyspa Spichrzów will be reintroduced to the city and its inhabitants. To reach the Old Town from our office building you will need to just cross the Elbląg River. In the Middle Ages this was the area which provided the economic backbone of the town.

On the island there were located facilities necessary for handling long-distance trade, servicing the port, shipyards, as well as craft workshops and granaries. We want the “Porta Mare” office building to reinstate the importance of this part of the city and become its economic heart. The building itself will be revolutionary, combining retail, service and office functions in the best, modern way. At the same time, the architecture of the building is a tri­bute to the history and tradition of the city.

The area is under conservator’s protection, which has determined the shape of the building. It will consist of seven segments with characteristic sloping roofs facing the river. The pandemic has significantly influenced the office market, and our investment in Elbląg is already a response to the changes taking place in the market. First of all, these will be flexible, easily rearrangeable spaces that will offer diverse solutions for tenants. From traditional offices through open-space

This upheaval will take place on many levels. Thanks to the investment the Wyspa Spichrzów will be reintroduced to the city and its inhabitants. To reach the Old Town from Operator ARP office building you will need to just cross the Elbląg River.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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INVESTMENTS

offices, co-working spaces, conference We want it to be a place where young peorooms, focus rooms to virtual address. ple can exchange experiences and take There has never been such an offer in their first business steps.

Elbląg before and it is a real breakthrough.

In recent years there has been quite A-class office building will definitely a lot of publicity about the canal boost the attractiveness of investments through the Vistula Spit, which may furin Elbląg. Do you expect that the newly ther strengthen the business attractivebuilt office space will be a place of work ness of Elbląg. How do you think Elbląg for the inhabitants of Elbląg or sur- will benefit from this project? rounding towns as well?

It is a strategic investment that In the process of acquiring tenants will economically boost not only we will be supported by a large and ex- the 120,000-people town of Elbląg, but perienced player – JLL. We are already re- also the whole north-eastern region ceiving information about enquiries con- of the country. It is worth reminding that cerning the possibilities of leasing office the first plans for a canal connecting Elbląg space in Elbląg. Tri-City which is located directly with the Baltic Sea were drawn up about 60 kilometres away, is becoming several hundred years ago, in the 16th centoo "cramped" for investors also due to in- tury. Today this great plan is being realised, creasing difficulties in recruiting employ- and thanks to its implementation Elbląg ees. Many companies are also considering will revive as an important port, which will diversification of their activities and me- boost its economy and tourism. In turn, endium cities are an attractive alternative hancing the economic potential of Elbląg for them. This does not mean that we only will also benefit our project, because as we target tenants from outside the city. We as- know, business attracts business. sume that many local companies will want to move their headquarters to this pres- New office building, canal through tigious space. Our plan is also to create the Vistula Spit – these are large and a location which will become some kind significant initiatives. Is the ARP preof the Elbląg business community hub. paring any more projects in Elbląg?

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The purpose of the Industrial Deve­ lop­­­ment Agency (the ARP) and the ARP Group companies is to provide multidimensional support for the development of business operators. ARP engages not only in the sector of small and medium enterprises, but also transfers technologies and encourages innovative projects.

Considering such a broad spectrum of activities, I am convinced that many entrepreneurs operating in Elbląg will find something for themselves.

Thank you for talking to us.

More information:

Promotion, Culture and Tourism Department, Promotion and Entrepreneurship Unit City Hall of Elbląg Stary Rynek 25 Street, Ratusz Staromiejski, IV floor, room 400, 82-300 Elbląg Phone: +48 55 239 32 90, 55 239 33 17 e-mail: invest@umelblag.pl www.inwestycje.elblag.eu

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

VIDEO CONFERENCING HAS JUST GOTTEN BETTER! HushHybrid is a novelty in Hushoffice line, adapted to hybrid operation, videoconferencing, and longer individual work.

See how LED lighting, a VESA holder for screen, a comfortable sofa and an adjustable table top change the quality of online meetings. The compact, mobile acoustic cabin ensures ergonomic performance of various tasks in one place.

A flexible office tailored to the „new reality” has just gotten better!

hushoffice.com

INVESTMENTS

KATOWICE – THE CITY WITH FIVE KEYS TO SUCCESS! Surely, many specialists in economic marketing wonder what factors have a decisive influence on the choice of a specific location by an investor. All Polish cities are constantly competing with each other, trying to maximally promote their advantages and to optimally select arguments emphasising the qualities which for an investor may be the most important factor influencing investment decisions.

The first key is the city's stable financial situation. The American agency Fitch Ratings, one of the five most prestigious global rating agencies, which regularly publishes ratings of more than 5,700 fi­­­­ nancial institutions and 100 countries, including an assessment of their creditworthiness, in the middle of 2021 evaluated the economy and financial policy of the City of Katowice, at the level of "A-", which means: "stable outlook". Fitch's assessment of independent experts con­­ firms Katowice's high creditworthiness in the context of the city's stable and balanced budget, which is moderately susceptible to changes in the economic Therefore, it is certainly worth pointing situation thanks to the dominant share out the most important advantages of of service industries in the structure of Katowice, a city which, among the largest the city's economy, in particular the mo-­­­­­ Polish agglomerations, can boast the hig­­­ dern business services sector. hest dynamics of invest­­­­ment growth in certain sectors of economy, more and The second key – resources of modern more often placing on top positions in office space, which is conducive to busivarious rankings and in many respects ness development and meets internaclearly dominating over the competi- tional standards, whose diversity, location. These assets we can confidently call tion, accessibility, and quality are able to the keys to success with which Katowice is meet the expectations of even the most opening its doors more and more widely demanding investors. The modern busito new investors who seek and find in this ness services sector, which is currently city completely new development oppor- one of the most dynamically developing tunities tailored to their needs. segments of the economy in Katowice, already has at its disposal office premises Certainly, in every investor's decision process, influencing the choice of location in which to locate his investment, such factors as geographical location, communication accessibility, modern office space and its rental costs, human resources and salaries on the local labour market, etc. play an important role. But apart from strictly technical or economic factors, an increasing number of investors also pay attention to other advantages of the city, influencing the quality of life, such as the level of air pollution, availability of recreational areas, or the diversity and artistic level of the city's cultural offer.

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with a total area of over 590,000 sqm, and this resource will increase by another 230,000 sqm over the next two years.

The third key – human resources. The cur­­­­rent unemployment rate in Katowice is 1.9%, which is one of the lowest in the whole country, and the number of registered unemployed amounts to just over 4,100 people, which is insignificant considering the city's population of almost 300,0000 people. At the same time, the analysis of the list of professions in short supply prepared by the District Labour Office in Katowice shows that the shortage of human resources in the Katowice region (similarly as in many other big cities in Poland) refers mainly to the category of skilled workers, as well as medical professions and some teaching professions (in particular vocational teachers). At the same time Katowice and Metropolis1 can be proud of a very rich pool 1 The Metropolis GZM is composed of Katowice and 40 towns and municipalities with area of 2,500 sqm, in which operate 240,000 companies and enterprises producing around 8% of Polish GDP. The Metropolis constitute: Będzin, Bieruń, Bobrowniki, Bojszowy, Bytom, Chełm Śląski, Chorzów, Czeladź, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Gierałtowice, Gliwice, Imielin, Katowice, Knurów, Kobiór, Lędziny, Łaziska Górne, Mierzęcice, Mikołów, Mysłowice, Ożarowice, Piekary Śląskie, Pilchowice, Psary, Pyskowice, Radzionków, Ruda Śląska, Rudziniec, Siemianowice Śląskie,

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Photo: Jeremi Astaszow/Katowice City Hall.

of highly qualified specialists, which is augmented every year by almost 23,000 graduates of the Upper Silesian universities, whose educational profile meets the needs of companies providing IT, telecommunications, financial, banking, legal and tax, accounting and HR management services. It is for this reason that the urban organism: Katowice and the Metropolis is currently one of the largest beneficiaries of the development of the business services sector in Poland, noting in the horizon of only a few recent years an increase in the number of such specia­ li­­zed service centers from 92 in 2019 to 116 in mid-2021, accompanied by a corresponding increase in employment from the level of 20,000 employees in 2019 to 28,900 projected for the first quarter of 2022.

and urban settlements (United Nations Human Settlements Programme). The choice of Katowice as the host of next year's Forum results precisely from the fact that the city is now a model example of transformation from a typical industrial center in the region into a vibrant modern ag­­­­­glomeration, which is currently an exce­­­­ptionally dynamically developing center of science, culture, technolo­gical innovations and modern business services sector.

Katowice's aspirations to host the most prestigious international events are fully justified by the excellent conditions the city provides for hosting top-notch events, which was fully demonstrated in 2015, with Katowice being awarded the title of "City of Music" by UNESCO, as well as on the occasion of one of the big­­­ gest international events held annually – the European Economic Congress or Intel The fourth key – the city at the center of Extreme Masters. events. Katowice is also the venue of many important events of interna- The fifth key – quality of life. According tional scope in the form of congresses, to a ranking published in May 2021 conferences and festivals, among which by "Newsweek" covering 89 cities in the global event planned for 2022 is Poland, Katowice was ranked 6th among worth mentioning: World Urban Forum, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitwhich will be held under the aegis of UN-­ ants in terms of quality of life. Among ­Habitat – the UN agency for urbanization the seven criteria, important factors were Siewierz, Sławków, Sosnowiec, Sośnicowice, taken into account such as the labour Świerklaniec, Świętochłowice, Tarnowskie market, salaries, safety, level of health Góry, Tychy, Wojkowice, Wyry, Zabrze, care, air quality, among others. The last Zbrosławice.

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criterion, related to air quality, was also fully confirmed in the report prepared by "Europolis" of the Schumann Foundation, according to which Katowice ranked high in the second place among 20 evaluated Polish agglomerations. The campaign to shape Katowice's new image, which has been successfully conducted for several years, is complemented by the promotion of the city's natural assets in various forms, mainly in the context of recreation and leisure activities as Katowice is one of the greenest agglomerations in Poland with green areas and reservoirs accounting for as much as 51.8% of the city's total area.

These symbolic five keys to Katowice's business and image success are only a part of a solid metaphorical "bundle" as the number of equally significant assets of the city favouring development and new investments is much longer and we will present them in our future publications. 

More information:

Investors Assistance Department City Hall of Katowice www.invest.katowice.eu

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INVESTMENTS

125 YEARS OF TRADITION The history of Częstochowa is heavy industry. Education, social life and high work culture were shaped around it. Today, the city is opening up to other industries using decades-long experience in shaping the labour market and educating staff.

Częstochowa is a city that is industrially a common part of mining and metallurgy Silesia, and one of the largest textile centres in Europe – Łódź. The city was the capital of the voivodeship for twenty years, and now it is the capital of the Northern Subregion of the Silesia Voivodeship.

Today's local government again focuses on the development of industry and business. The industry has been present in these lands for a long time. The cleverness and entrepreneurship of the inhabi­ tants allowed them to go through the crisis caused by the political transformation and the collapse of large production plants more gently than others.

The most important and largest plant in the city was Huta Częstochowa. On its 125th birthday, the steelworks has gained a new owner and the situation of thousands of employees and subcontractors is finally safe.

Góra Monastery. This Kuźnica was located on the Warta River, in the area of today's Huta Częstochowa.

The ore-bearing lane continues from Zawiercie through Częstochowa to Wieluń. A primitive method of ore extraction, which relies only on the strength of human muscles, was used in these areas until the 19th century. The development of mining and ore extraction began when Poland was regaining independence. Technological progress started in the 1930s. 426 million tonnes of iron ore remain in Częstochowa deposits. This geological condition and the related skills of the inhabitants influenced the establishment of heavy industry production companies in this area.

HUTA CZĘSTOCHOWA – INNOVATION CENTER

In the second half of the 19th century, CZĘSTOCHOWA STANDS the Warsaw industrialist Bernard Hantke ON IRON ORES began to take an interest in wet forest The metal industry and iron ore processing areas along the Warta River. At that are the history of this city and its begin- time, the entrepreneur was involved in ning. One of the oldest documents the production of metal products: wire, concerning Częstochowa indicates that in nails, agricultural and garden tools, chains, 1377 Prince Władysław Opolczyk granted etc. In 1896, the construction of steela forge in the village of Błeszno to brothers works began in this hard to manage named Jaśko and Niczko – it happened areas. The foundations of blast furnaces earlier than the foundation of the Jasna were created from old oaks growing

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in the Rakowski forest, and the swamps and oxbow lakes were drained. One of the first buildings erected at that time was the one-story management building. The construction of the steelworks was completed in 1902 – it already had a blast furnace department, a steel plant and a groove rolling mill. In 1913, the steelworks produced 114 thousand tons of pig iron, 87 thousand tons of steel and 81 thousand tons of rolled products.

The First World War stopped the development of the steelworks in Częstochowa by cutting them off from the existing markets in the east. The German occupier suspended the plant for almost two years, and just in mid-1916, the rolling mill and steel plant were reopened to a very limited extent. This was due to the demand for barbed wire used in the construction of the front fortifications, thanks to which about 500 people found employment in the plant. After Poland regained independence, a new stage in the history of Huta Częstochowa began. Thankfully, after the war, it did not record any major losses. In November 1918, the rolling mill was launched and renovation works began on the blast furnace No. 1 and in the steel plant. In 1923 the Obereisen concern was forced to sell shares to Spółka Akcyjna Modrzejowskie Zakłady Górniczo-Hutnicze with its headquarters in Sosnowiec.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Huta Liberty Częstochowa.

Photo: Łukasz Kolewiński.

The life of the entire modern Raków was organized around the steelworks and its everyday reality, it was decided by the elite – the steelworks staff and young people with aspirations. That is the time when Racovia was established – the first sports club of Raków (now Częstochowa), the first canoeing marina, and a well-equipped fire

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

brigade, which was built in parallel with the plant. Another interesting feature was the cycling track called the cyclodrome, a modern hospital with doctors and paramedics, a school, and a kindergarten. Raków, thanks to the steelworks, was an independent city within the city. The financing of civic activity and

the implementation of plans was determined by the finances of the steelworks. It provided funds thanks to which, for example, the church of St. Joseph was built.

After World War II, Huta was systematically expanded. In the 1950s, in Mirów district, blast furnaces, the so-called workshop

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INVESTMENTS

Układ Leonarda, the Częstochowa University of Technology mural.

Photo: Łukasz Kolewiński.

district and a coking coal plant, were made, and in Raków – a steel plant and a pipe rolling mill. In the years 1994 – 1997, a new steel plant was built with a ladle furnace, an electric converter and a conti­ nuous steel casting line. At the beginning of the 21st century, the blast furnace was put out of operation, while all employees who operated it remained employed.

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From 2005, Huta Częstochowa belonged to the Ukrainian Industrial Union of Donbass and was called ISD Huta Częstochowa Sp. z o.o. The steelworks produced 85% of all plates produced in Poland and sold half of its production on the EU markets and in exports to countries outside the EU. The first half of 2019 brought Huta ISD a significant crisis and

on April 19, production has stopped.

At that time ArcelorMittal Poland an­­­ nounced the shutdown of the blast furnace and steel plant in Krakow, and Huta Łaziska shut down three ferroalloy smelting furnaces. The Częstochowa steelworks ran out of cash to finance the orders, production was discontinued and the crew was sent on holidays.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Częstochowa Huta, which produces steel from scrap and pig iron in the KONEL electric furnace, strives to implement the objectives of the Greensteel program, i.e. manufacturing products with a minimum carbon footprint using modern technologies and energy from renewable sources. Currently, the theoretical production capacity of the company reaches 800 thousand tons of steel per year.

The collapse of the plant, which employed 1,235 employees, had enormous social consequences, as thousands of residents are employed in local companies which permanently cooperate with steelwork.

On September 4, the court declared bankruptcy, and on September 19, the trustee in bankruptcy leased the plant for 12 months to Sunningwell International Polska sp. z o.o., which also took overall employees and on September 30, Huta resumed operations.

sources. Currently, the theoretical produ­ ction capacity of the company reaches 800 thousand tons of steel per year.

The area of Huta, belonging to Liberty Częstochowa Sp. z o.o., covers over 151 hectares with 92 buildings.

Liberty Częstochowa is part of the international group Liberty, one of the tycoons on the metallurgical market, operating in over 30 countries around the world, headed by Sanjeev Gupta, president of the GFG Alliance consortium.

The dramatic situation of Huta and the uncertain future of its employees showed how the situation on the labour market changed in the confrontation, even until the political transformation, when large production plants also collapsed and crowds of qualified workers were left without work – which was one of the reasons for the creation of special economic zones. The modern labour market, which is desperately looking for qualified human resources for industry, reacted even before the steel plant formally declared bankruptcy. In the Center for Better Workplaces in the City Hall, there were representatives of manufacturing companies, who expressed their willingness to hire employees who could lose their jobs in case of the liquidation of Huta ISD.

The glassworks exerted the greatest influence on the contemporary shape of the city, but it is not the only representative of heavy industry with a rich histori-­ cal tradition. The history of one of them began even earlier than the history of the Częstochowa steelworks. In 1894, Seweryn Landau at Teatralna 5 St. (cur­­­ rently al. Kościuszki) built a cast iron foundry – now WULKAN S.A. specialized in casting iron pots and producing box irons. In 1895, the foundry employed 250 workers. In 1899 it belonged to the Russian Metal Trade Society Iznoskov Zuckau & S-ka with its headquarters in St. Petersburg at Grochowa 5 St. and 400 workers already worked there. Today, the industry in Częstochowa is still developing, an example of which can be the ŚLĄSK Ocynkownia, currently the most modern The long-term domination of the metal in Europe, as well as family businesses. industry in the city had a significant A perfect example is Staltim – a company impact on the development of the Często- with a four-generation tradition – opera­ chowa University of Technology, shaping ting in the zone of influence of the KSEZ the state and quality of education at this and APJ Sikora Częstochowa – a company university, which from the beginning from the 1930s, competitive today even of its existence closely cooperates with on the Japanese market, performing CNC the industry, being aware that this coope­ turning for the machine, medical, lighting ration determines them. and automotive industries. Author: Anna Tymoshenko

On May 28, 2021, Huta Częstochowa has Translation: Magdalena Wytrzymała finally changed the owner and has ambitious plans to increase steel production to More information: one million tons per year and implement the Greensteel environmental program.

The company, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, currently employs 1,126 employees. CzęstoInvestor Assistance Center Department chowa Huta, which produces steel from of European Funds and Development scrap and pig iron in the KONEL electric City Hall of Częstochowa furnace, strives to implement the objec- Waszyngtona 5 Street, tives of the Greensteel program, i.e. 42-217 Częstochowa Phone: +48 34 3707 212, +48 34 3707 213 manufacturing products with a minimum e-mail: coi@czestochowa.um.gov.pl, carbon footprint using modern tech- fer@czestochowa.um.gov.pl nologies and energy from renewable www.czestochowa.pl

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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INVESTMENTS

DIALOGUE IS A GOOD PRACTICE Good ideas are born out of dialogue. It was already noted by the fourteenth-century preacher, Jakub from Paradyż, who said that true wisdom is born during a dispute, because only then can it sound like a bell struck by hearts.

The City of Kielce undertakes a wide dialogue that is to connect business, academic, local government and social circles – NGOs, city activists and residents in order to build cooperation supporting the sustainable development of Kielce. This is the purpose of the project ‘Kielce for entrepreneurs’ #KielcedlaPrzedsię­biorców. The main assumptions of the initiative established by the Investor Assistance Centre opera­ ting in the City Hall are: broad coope­ ration, comprehensive development and promotion of entrepreneurship.

The project brings together institutions and organizations working for business in Kielce, including: Kielce Technology Park,

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Municipal Employment Office in Kielce, company. As part of the initiative, a meeting Chamber of Craftsmen and Entrepreneurs was held under the slogan "Women's busiof Kielce. ness in the times of COVID-19" dedicated to women who run a business or want to As a part of the initiative, a number of busi- start their own company. The initiative is ness activities were undertaken in wide aimed at starting cyclical cooperation and cooperation with various institutions: integration of the entrepreneurial community of women from the City of Kielce, both Women's Business is an open project, those who have already achieved success which will be based on cyclical meetings in business and those who are starting of ladies, in order to exchange experi- the adventure with their own company. ences in the field of running a business, obtain support and provide knowledge, PROJECT PROMOTING networking. The project was created with ENTREPRENEURSHIP – a view to promoting women's businesses "KIELCE CRAFTSMEN" from the City of Kielce and activating The project Kielce Craftsmen aims women to develop within their own to promote small craft enterprises on the local market. Until recently, craft professions were very popular. The crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic has hit small businesses particularly hard. Some laboratories are closed, others are on the verge of bankruptcy. Craftsmen try to fight and adapt to the current reality and to the new needs of customers. Some plants decide to use new solutions, such as moving to the Internet, as an attempt to appear in the virtual space, and thus in the minds of the inhabitants. This solution is not possible for everyone. Therefore, the Entrepreneurship Office and Investor Assistance Centre, the Design Institute in Kielce and the Chamber of Craftsmen and Entrepreneurs of Kielce decided to join forces in the promotional campaign "Kielce Craftsmen", carried out as part of the Kielce for Entrepreneurs initiative.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The aim of the project is to promote the services of craft plants from the City of Kielce in the local media, the Internet, brochures and on billboards, as well as to create and popularize an interactive map of Kielce craft plants.

The City of Kielce joined the nationwide campaign ‘Cities with entrepreneurs’ #MiastazPrzedsiębiorcami. The information campaign kicked off on June 21, on the occasion of the Entrepreneur's Day, and was started by the Association of Polish Cities, the Family Business Initiative Association together with nearly 100 local governments.

The organizers, together with local governments that applied for the #MiastazPrzedsiębiorcami campaign, showed on information boards and through available communication channels the role and contribution of entrepreneurs to the local economy, as well as to the well-being of its community. The motto of this year's campaign "Act loyally – buy locally" was to encourage local companies to buy their products and services, thus keeping capital in the city. The data presented as part of the information campaign comes from the Local Development Monitor of the Association of Polish Cities – a comprehensive analysis of cities, muni­ cipalities and functional urban areas, which was presented to cities on July 8 this year during an online seminar organi­ ­zed by Association of Polish Cities as part of the Local Development Forum. Monitor is available at www.monitorrozwoju.pl and contains data previously unavailable to cities, including data from the POLTAX system, ZUS and KRUS. The theme of the event was the local economy – its condition and impact on the development of cities.

The Deputy of Mayor of Kielce, Bożena Szczypiór, during the Women’s Business in the times of COVID-19 meeting.

Employment Office, Kielce Technology Park, Public Transport Authority, schools, as well as local entrepreneurs who were invited to participate in the spot promoting the said action were invited to participate in the campaign. Feeling a great need to exchange experiences and ideas with other cities, the City of Kielce initiated, in cooperation with the Associa­ tion of Polish Cities, the idea of creating a catalogue of good practices in the field of entrepreneurship. Sharing experiences or providing current information allows you to better see emerging trends, better understand the nature of change and undertake more targeted and thought-out projects between local government and business. Joining groups – formal or not, creating a network of cooperating institutions increases the potential to effectively respond to emerging challenges and opportunities. We hope that this latest initiative of Kielce and ZMP, another effect of the joint campaign, will enrich our common base of good practices – dobrepraktyki.pl, and at the same time The city of Kielce was very actively in­­­­ will be a starting point and an excellent volved in the promotional campaign, substantive contribution to the Experiwanting to draw the attention of residents ence Exchange Network, which will be to the importance of entrepreneurs in our launched soon. Link to the good practice community. The information campaign notification form below: was carried out as part of the #KielcedlapPrzedsiębiorców initiative, on its FB profile from June 21–25. Information on the campaign and statistical data on the role of entrepreneurs in Kielce was published every day. Kielce cultural institutions, city units – the Municipal

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The activities are also of international character. Kielce City Hall remains in dialogue not only on the local level, taking part in works on programs and strategies for the City of Kielce. From 2017, the Municipal Employment Office was actively involved in the Jobs and Skills In The Local Economy partnership of the Urban Agenda of the European Union, in which Kielce represented the interests of Polish cities. Thanks to cooperation with Porto, Rotterdam and representatives of the Greek government, a pioneering concept of Talent Office was created, i.e. city services coordinating the service of the labour market.

On this basis, a pilot project of the Career Support Centre was created, which was submitted in June this year to the Minis­­ ­try of Development, Labour and Technology. The Municipal Labour Office is also the only representative of poviat level offices in the Sectoral Competence Council for the Marketing Communication Sector. More information:

Investor Assistance Centre Kielce City Hall Strycharska 6 Street, 25-659 Kielce Phone: +48 41 36 76 571, 41 36 76 557 e-mail: coi@um.kielce.pl www.invest.kielce.pl/en www.mapa.invest.kielce.pl/en

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INVESTMENTS

CATCH WIND IN YOUR SAILS

– WHY RELOCATING TO ŁÓDŹ IS WORTH YOUR WHILE When the decision to locate a cloth settlement in Łódź was reached some two hundred years ago, the convenient location of the city was one of the decisive factors. A lot has changed since then, but the location in the heart of Poland and excellent transport links are assets which still attract business to Łódź.

However, an attractive location is only the beginning, and that’s why local authorities are changing the city to raise its business-friendly profile and in order to put the Łódź agglomeration top of the list for companies planning to optimize by means of relocation. Relocating the company may bring savings and contribute to its business development, and Łódź is conducive to achieving both of these goals.

Proper infrastructure is of paramount im­­­­ por­­­­tance in order to fully utilize the great potential presented by the city’s location in the very heart of Poland – thus making it relatively close to every corner of the country. The Łódź agglomeration is among the best-connected in Poland. A1 and A2, two main Polish highways, intersect near Łódź. They form part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that connects Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic States with Southern Europe. The S8 expressway, located just south of the city and connecting Łódź with Wrocław, is of international importance, too. The S14 expressway will complete the Łódź ring from the west.

Such a network of highways and expressways as well as host of excellent railway connections enable quick and safe travels from Łódź to every other large city in

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Poland. Łódź has a direct and convenient connection with all major cities in Poland as well as many cities abroad. The train journey from Łódź to Warsaw takes just over an hour. It takes considerably more to reach the Chinese city of Chengdu – but the fact that there is a direct freight link which forms part of the New Silk Road is noteworthy in itself. And it’s much more than just trivia, because the shipment of goods by rail from Poland to China over a distance of 10,000 kilometers takes an average of 12 to 14 days. For compari­ ­son purposes, the highlighted rail route is definitely faster than maritime transport, as deep-sea vessels cover the route between ports in Europe and the Far East in approximately 45 days. This, therefore, gives rise to unique opportunities for Chinese entrepreneurs wishing to invest in Europe.

opportunities. Planned capacity of the ‘Solidarity Airport’ is set for 45 mil­lion pas­­­ sengers per year in only its first stage, and the entire CPK will integrate air, rail, and road transport. Investments in railway infrastructure will significantly reduce travel time between Łódź and the largest Polish cities – for example, it will take 45 minutes to reach Warsaw. The priority is to connect Łódź, the capital city of Warsaw, Poznań, and Wrocław into a Y-shaped route where trains will accelerate up to 250 km/h. Trains will start operating on the new routes in 2027.

Warsaw’s proximity and good transport links between the two cities contribute to the creation of business synergy between them. Traveling by rail or an expressway is fast and convenient to the extent that even a daily commute is not an issue. Coope­­­­The proximity of airports is yet another ration and mutual influence are so signi­ advantage worth emphasizing. A ten­- ficant that the word ‘duopolis’ is already -minute drive from the city will take being mentioned, and the cooperative you to the Władysław Reymont Inter- work done by the local authorities means national Airport in Łódź, whereas you that proximity is beneficial to both cities. can reach the largest airport in Poland – the Fryderyk Chopin International Airport The New Center of Łódź (NCŁ) project – in Warsaw, offering connections to over which covers a part of city that will include a hundred destinations around the world both office and residential space, and – in 90 minutes. which combines an attractive location with the post-industrial character of the city The Central Communication Port (CPK) set center – make NCŁ an interesting solufor construction between Łódź and War- tion for companies looking for presti­ saw will open up a plethora of fan­­­tastic gious space with a unique atmosphere.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

The Łódź agglomeration is among the best-connected in Poland. A1 and A2, two main Polish highways, intersect near Łódź. They form part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that connects Western and Eastern Europe, as well as the Baltic States with Southern Europe. The S8 expressway, located just south of the city and connecting Łódź with Wrocław, is of international importance, too.

The revitalized city center will boast buildings that match its character, however areas for high-rises will be designated, too. Buildings can rise up to 70 meters in the NCŁ itself, and up to 87 meters in the vicinity of the WZ route.

City authorities put great emphasis on ensuring Łódź has as many green areas as possible when planning the reurbanization and revitalization of the city center.

Only between 2018 and 2020 the city hall spent PLN 17 m on the restoring the Sien­ kiewicz Park and the Moniuszko Park.

Before 2023, restoration works will be car­­­­­ ried out in the Staromiejski Park, the Helenów Park, and the Legionów Park (brin­­ging the total spent to more than PLN 28 m).

New green areas are also scheduled for completion. City development strategy places great emphasis on transforming space in accor­­dance with environmental and ecological principles, as well as increasing the quality of life of its inhabitants.

a place to live?’. This number stood at mere 27% back in 2012. In a recent nationwide IBRiS survey covering 18 Polish cities, Łódź fared best in terms of quality of life and the quality of its local authorities.

According to a July article by the Rzeczpospolita daily, (…) the inhabitants of Łódź appreciate the quality of municipal services (72% affirmative indications) and the policy concerning green areas (67%) in particular.

This represents the highest score among all cities participating in the survey. The availa­ bility of events and places of culture is also viewed very positively (66%).

Those choosing Łódź as a place for business relocation can rest assured they will find qualified human resources.

The inhabitants of Łódź have access to education at every level, with both state and private schools and universities operating in the city and offering education in the humanities, technology, and medicine.

The talent pool in Łódź is therefore extensive and when people who are satisfied with the quality of life, are well­-educated, and competent join a company then it City inhabitants notice changes taking can prove to be the proverbial wind in place in Łódź. Research carried out annu- the company’s sails. ally by the city authorities on a representative sample of 800 people proves this beyond any doubt. There is year-on-year More information: increase in the percentage of residents who Business Development share a positive outlook on Łódź. The latest and International edition from 2019 (there was no research Relations Bureau Piotrkowska 104a Street, carried out in 2020 due to the pandemic) 90-926 Lodz reveals that 61% of respondents gave Phone: +48 42 638 59 39 an affirmative answer to the following Fax: +48 42 638 59 40 question: ‘What do you think of Łódź as e-mail: boi@uml.lodz.pl

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

City authorities put great emphasis on ensuring Łódź has as many green areas as possible when planning the reurbanization and revitalization of the city center. Only between 2018 and 2020 the city hall spent PLN 17 m on the restoring the Sienkiewicz Park and the Moniuszko Park.

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INVESTMENTS

LOCAL COMPETENCES, GLOBAL PROJECTS – HOW THE BPO/SSC SECTOR IS DEVELOPING IN BYDGOSZCZ

An attractive offer of office properties, access to qualified staff, the City's support for investors, as well as a friendly atmosphere for living and running a business - these are the key aspects that make Bydgoszcz one of the important locations for investments in the modern business services sector in Poland, while being at the same time a market with great potential for further growth.

For several years, Bydgoszcz has been consistently implementing the concept of "a city open to outsourcing" and today, according to ABSL estimates, this sector in the City employs nearly 10,000 people. Including local IT and financial companies that often provide services to international clients, this number has risen to nearly 11,500. A definite distinguishing feature of Bydgoszcz is the dominant share of IT companies in the local structure of the sector – these services generate over 80% of employment, creating a strong local specialisation in Bydgoszcz, which is unique in the country.

The remaining part of the market are financial and accounting centres, and contact centres which are developing in the City.

IT IS ALREADY A BYDGOSZCZ SPECIALTY Such a large concentration of IT companies not only demonstrates the City's strong specialisation. It also illustrates the role of Bydgoszcz in the nationwide list of IT centres, placing it in the forefront of locations chosen by global technology companies. The proof of this are the service centres of such corporations as the already present: Atos, Nokia,

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Asseco, or Sii. The main representatives of the sector in the City are developing specialised business processes and realise projects for the largest global IT, telecommunications, insurance, or automotive companies, confirming the highest level of services and competences of their Bydgoszcz branches. The IT industry in Bydgoszcz also has its well-established, historical traditions – it derives from the telecommunications industry, which has been rooted in the City for decades, and is strongly connected with the education system. The companies investing here often perceive human capital as one of the decisive assets of the City, because thanks to local specialisation they have, among others, better access to the talented professionals they need to develop their projects.

cities in Poland, fits perfectly with the nature of GlobalLogic's operations, as well as the development strategy realised by our company. The team operating in the City broadens the capabilities and market reach of the organisation, bringing technical competences sought by our business part­ ners and creativity so much needed in the implementation of advanced technolo­ gical projects. The operation of the location in Bydgoszcz allows us to design and develop IT solutions for companies from the medical, automotive, and communication sectors.

At the same time, it provides an opportu­ nity to work closely with inventive, ambitious and extremely talented engineers, as well as IT specialists from the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship who are starting their profes­ sional career and are looking for their first practical experience after years of study.

The great potential of local staff is highlighted, for example, by GlobalLogic, which specialises in creating software for embedded systems and digital transformation, developing projects using the latest technologies in the field of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, edge computing, M2M communication or cybersecurity. – Bydgoszcz, as one of the most dynamically developing

In response to the dynamic development and growing demand for the best specia­ lists in the field of artificial intelligence, machine learning and broadly understood software engineering, the Bydgoszcz office of deepsense.ai was also established in 2018. Why Bydgoszcz? – In the largest Polish cities, the demand for employees from the IT industry is huge, while in cities such as Bydgoszcz, competition from employers is

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

still slightly smaller, which makes it easier to hire a specialist, especially if you are the first company in the city that specialises in artifi­ cial intelligence and machine learning. It is worth emphasizing that the local specialists are as good as those who have decided to move to larger centres. Another significant factor in the decision to open our office in Bydgoszcz was the fact that some of deep­ sense.ai employees come from this City.

A completely new investor, BORG5, has also put emphasis on the competence of local staff. The company deals with the design, implementation and migration of telecommunications networks essential for rail safety, mainly on the British market.

In recent months it has located its competence centre in one of the most modern office buildings in Bydgoszcz, Immobile K3, located in the very centre of the City.

Bydgoszcz location was chosen, among others, because of the availability of highly qualified staff, as well as a highly deve­ loped telecommunications sector, and the technical profile of the local universities.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

– Bydgoszcz offers a wide base of highly specialised engineers. As a modern and dynamically developing city, it attracts more and more young, talented, well-edu­ cated people as well as investors, also from abroad. It also has an airport, which ensures good communication with many European cities, also in the United Kingdom, hence the decision to locate the BORG5 office in Bydgoszcz – arguments Filip Szmuc, Engineering Manager at BORG5.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE F&A INDUSTRY In addition to the IT specialisation dominating in the BPO/SSC sector in Bydgoszcz, F&A services are developing more and more dynamically in the City, which is additionally supported by the fact that the largest number of students and gra­duates in Bydgoszcz can be attributed to finance and accounting. This is confirmed by, among others, the latest investment of the Ciech Group. The investor decided to centralise the support functions within the new Ciech Services company, which

Such a large concentration of IT companies not only demonstrates the City’s strong specialisation.

It also illustrates the role of Bydgoszcz in the nationwide list of IT centres, placing it in the forefront of locations chosen by global technology companies. The proof of this are the service centres of such corporations as the already present: Atos, Nokia, Asseco, or Sii.

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INVESTMENTS

In addition to the IT specialisation dominating in the BPO/SSC sector in Bydgoszcz, F&A services are developing more and more dynamically in the City, which is additionally supported by the fact that the largest number of students and graduates in Bydgoszcz can be attributed to finance and accounting.

will act as a shared services centre and provide selected services from Bydgoszcz, such as accounting and financial services.

This is another company of the Ciech Group, whose office is located in this City – the first was Ciech Pianki, which is one of the leading domestic producers of PUR polyurethane foams and high-class FFP2 and FFP3 protective masks.

At the beginning of June 2021, Ciech Services opened its office in the Arkada Business Park building. This is a technologically advanced office building that meets the highest market standards, where data security, user comfort and ecology are the most important aspects, and a perfect location in the centre is a great convenience for employees.

– When creating a shared services centre for the Ciech Group, we considered several locations. The choice was determined by the strong advantages of Bydgoszcz, including availability of staff, academic background, and a business-friendly envi­ ronment. The aspects related to the location and network of roads are also important, as well as the fact that we have very good experience resulting from the operation of Ciech Pianki in Bydgoszcz – says Rafał Czubiński, President of the Management Board of Ciech Services and Managing Director at Ciech S.A. – The BPO/SSC sector is changing the lo­­­­cal economy in a real way, and in the F&A industry we see great potential for further development of modern business services

68

in our City. The Ciech Group's invest­ ment confirms this trend and proves that Bydgoszcz provides a friendly environ­ ment for running a business, and thanks to the diversified economy, it offers entre­ preneurs stable conditions and the desired synergy of competences – adds Edyta Wiwatowska, President of the Management Board of the Bydgoszcz Regional Deve­ lopment Agency.

After the turmoil on the market caused by the pandemic, experts currently forecast further growth of the modern business services sector, indicating that Poland will remain the desired direction for investments, including for companies looking to transfer some of their processes to more cost-effective locations. Based on the experience of remote working, the concept of satellite offices and teams is also growing, which creates new opportunities for cities such as Bydgoszcz to allow greater access to work form this friendly location for corporations located in the capital or other parts of the country.

More information:

4C Unii Lubelskiej Street 85-059 Bydgoszcz Phone: +48 52 585 88 23 e-mail: barr@barr.pl www.barr.pl

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

How JLL’s Grants & Incentives Team can help you?

Our Team covers a complete process from identifying state aid opportunities through negotiating the incentives package to executing funding contract.

What you can expect from JLL?

Why use JLL?

•

JLL’s grants & incentives specialists are widely recognised as market leaders: • 15+ years of experience in this field of expertise, • seamless and fully integrated service with JLL’s wider transaction and business location consulting teams, • bespoke service for each type of investment, • proven track record across Europe.

• • •

Pragmatic advice on how to offset investment costs relating to your expansion, consolidation or growth plans.

End-to-end service in securing grants and incentives, choreographed alongside any location and site selection support.

Teaming up with Tenant Representation team leading commercial negotiations with prospective landlords on your behalf.

Support with settlements and audits.

Mateusz Polkowski Head of Research & Consulting Poland & CEE mateusz.polkowski@eu.jll.com

Iwona Chojnowska-Haponik Director Business and Location Consulting iwona.chojnowska@eu.jll.com

Contact us | jll.pl

INVESTMENTS

START IT UP! IN POZNAŃ The IT industry in Poznań is very strong. This is not only because of the global brands that are developing here but also thanks to the companies that were born in our city. Under the slogan “Start IT up! In Poznań” we are presenting IT companies straight from Poznań: STX Next, summ-it, and Verseo, which on a daily basis implement huge international projects here.

STX NEXT – THE LARGEST PYTHON SOFTWARE HOUSE IN EUROPE Working in this Poznań software house is a great opportunity for technological development and more. Sometimes the subject matter of implemented projects can be really surprising!

STX Next had an occasion to implement a project for a customer from Saudi Arabia.

The company combined IoT and mobile technologies in order to create an application for a device that produces personalised perfumes. One time, STX Next prepared for a Buddhist order a website that spreads over 20,000 texts essential to Buddhism, along with their translations into 41 languages.

One of the currently realised contracts is Republic of Cats – a website that allows ordering personalised cat food, taking into account pet’s age, health, weight, sex, food preferences, and allergies, and many other factors.

This is only a small part of the extensive portfolio of STX Next, which is currently working on over 70 projects simultaneously, involving over 400 enthusiasts of new technologies. Although the company earned the right to be called the largest Python software house in Europe, it is also developing in such areas as JavaScript, React Native, Node.js, DevOps, Machine Learning, or Data Engineering.

VERSEO – ONE OF THE LARGEST SEM AND SEO AGENCIES IN CENTRAL EUROPE The story of Verseo has begun in 2013 in a student dormitory in Poznań.

Since 2016, Verseo campaigns are optimised by the Verseo Campaign Manager platform, which is based on self-learning algorithms.

Currently, the company provides services for over 3,000 customers and runs a free knowledge Academy for marketers, where over 7,500 people have already registered!

On a daily basis, Verseo experts effectively increase the visibility of brands on the Internet by conducting advertising campaigns in the environment of Google, Youtube, Allegro, Facebook, Linkedin, and other online channels. Verseo experts emphasize that it is worth combining various advertising channels to maximize the potential of each of them. Thanks to their combination, Verseo generated almost 23 million views in a month in the most attractive advertising spaces on the Internet for its client from the FMCG.

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Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

POZNAŃ – A CITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGIES – The project “Start IT up! In Poznań” was born on the initiative of IT companies that come from Poznań. We want to jointly promote the city’s potential as a centre for the develop­ ment of modern technologies that affect the everyday life of many people and allow us to cooperate with the best institutions on significant international projects. We already know that we will continue this initiative and spread awareness about the IT compa­ nies that have been made in Poznań – explains Katja Lożina, Head of the Investor Relations Department.

The Pozitive Technologies conference is a place where IT specialists share their experiences about everyday work and the most interesting solutions for cooperation with clients. In November 2021, the third edition of the event, which from the very beginning has been created in Poznań in close cooperation with the IT community, employers, and experts, will take place. The conference predicts a lot of interesting case studies and the agenda is filling up all the time. We have prepared 4 thematic tracks that participants know from the previous editions: PiątkOps, WilData, GrundSec, Jeżyce ++. This year, the novelty is the fifth track: Naramobile, which will complement the conference program with issues of mobile technologies. We encourage you to register now. Details are available at www.pozitive.tech.

SUMM-IT – 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN DATABASE MANAGEMENT AROUND THE WORLD Summ-it specialists from Poznań operate in the professional management of database systems, as well as the construction of Business Intelligence systems, both in private and public clouds. The company has been a Microsoft partner since 2012, and also an Oracle partner since 2015. Currently, it supports almost 9,000 databases in various industries. Among its clients, there are also #Poznań brands such as Beyond. pl, Żabka Polska, NTT DATA Business Solutions and Verseo.

Managing database systems may sound quite enigmatic, which is why it is important to mention examples of the company’s projects that have a daily impact on many of us. Summ-it specialists provide constant support for the database systems of Bank Millenium S.A., which means that 24/7, 365 days a year, customers use the solutions that were created in Poznań.

The time of the pandemic has turned out to be a challenge for many companies. This was also a time when the Żabka store was looking for technological solutions, which ensure the development of internal processes and digitalisation of work during COVID-19 epidemic. Summ-it employees met the needs of Żabka and created the product by taking into account the most important values of the store: security, professional customer service, and smoothness of transactions.

However, the biggest impression on us was made by another summ-it project – the design and implementation of a database system for emergency number 112. Dispatchers and emergency services from all over Poland use telephone calls saved in a highly available database system, which was created in Poznań thanks to summ-it.

New investment in the city

Name of the investor: Bright Coders’ Factory Country of origin: Poland Number of workplaces: 80 Sector: Software Development

Bright Coders’ Factory is a software house with headquarters in Opole, Wrocław and soon in Poznań. Our main field is staff augmentation. We support other companies in their commercial projects by providing teams of qualified and experienced programmers and team leaders. The main goal of BCF is to employ 5% of the best programmers from Poland, thanks to which we effectively develop the projects of our contractors. We operate in many sectors, from creating web and cloud applications to the implementation of artificial intelligence. We chose Poznań because of the large number of young talents and location. We hope that our headquarters in Poznań will become a place where specialists from the IT sector will apply willingly and often. On our part, we will do our best to make Bright Coders’ Factory a software house associated with global projects and a family atmosphere supporting the development of employees.

More information:

Investor Relations Department City of Poznań

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Za Bramką 1 Street, 61-842 Poznan Phone: +48 61 878 54 28 e-mail: inwestor@um.poznan.pl www.poznan.pl/invest

Wiesław Błysz Bright Coders’ Factory

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HR NEWS SEBASTIAN BĄK AT COREES POLSKA – COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE clients of the agency in the processes of searching for office and warehouse space and solutions in both Opole and the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

Sebastian previously implemented projects for the development of the city, working in the Investor Service Department of the City of Opole. His duties in­­­ cluded, among others active acquisition of investors and their support in advisory matters, cooperation with the local investment and office market and business institutions (PAiH, WSSE, OCRG, PNT, CWK), as well as developing an ongoing analysis of the economy of the city of Opole, Sebastian Bąk joined Corees Polska – the real estate sector or the labor market.

Commercial Real Estate, taking the position of Leasing Manager in the newly Sebastian is a graduate of the Kozminski established Opole branch. His duties will University at the Faculty of Finance and include supporting new and existing Accounting.

ADAPTIVE GROWS STRONGER EVERY DAY!!!

Anna Stelmach joins the Team as Program Manager/Senior Consultant with over 20 years of experience in controlling, accounting, logistic finance, P2P, O2C with a great practical knowledge on finance and business operations, process improvements, project management and managing complex transitions.

Martin Dusseldorp brings more than 25 years of professional expertise coming from F&A, complicated change processes, system implementations, process migrations, business improvements, and restructuring. He'll be supporting our clients as Senior Manager/Senior Consultant.

The extensive business experience and managerial skills you both have will be a tremendous asset to our company!

Congratulations Ania & Martin and wel­­­ come to the Team! We wish you many exciting projects!

PAWEŁ SZTEJTER JOINS JLL POLAND’S MANAGEMENT BOARD JLL's Residential Department, which Paweł has headed since 2018, includes the Residential Market Research, Deve­lopment Advisory and Transaction Advisory teams.

Previously, he and Kazimierz Kirejczyk had established and developed over a 25-year period REAS, a consultancy company that provided comprehensive residential advisory services. Following the JLL’s acquisition of REAS in December 2018, his remit included strengthening services in the area of transaction consultancy in the residential market, a sector in which JLL leads the way in Poland.

Paweł Sztejter has been appointed Vice President of JLL Poland’s Management Board. He takes over from Kazimierz Kirej­ czyk who will continue his strategic work with JLL’s residential team.

72

of the living sector is growing worldwide, and the pandemic has only strengthened investor interest in this asset class. To illustrate this, the EMEA region has so far this year seen living transactions share in total real estate investment volumes exceeding 35%.

Kazimierz Kirejczyk, as one of the most recognised residential market experts in Poland, will continue to support the work of the team in the field of strategic ana­lyses, long-term forecasts and developing new residential business segments, including senior housing. Kazimierz The change in the company's Manage- will also deepen his involvement with ment Board is a natural continuation the JLL Strategic Advisory Panel, a thinkof the process of developing residen- tank operating alongside the Managetial consultancy services both in Poland ment Board, which he has headed since and the CEE region. The importance the beginning of this year.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Pro Progressio WE RESPOND TO YOUR NEEDS reports individual real estate Focus On universities

events

cooperation

The BSS Forum The BSS Tour Outsourcing Stars business breakfasts

business NGO public institutions industry associations

consulting

projects

recommendations localizations industry reports

BSS Index Event Tiger

media Outsourcing&More Outsourcing Portal Poland Today Outsourcing Journal Link2Poland Emerging Europe

www.proprogressio.pl Do you have any questions? info@proprogressio.pl

CAREER & DEVELOPMENT

GOOD PROSPECTS FOR THE POLISH BUSINESS SERVICES SECTOR For years, the Polish business services sector (BSS) has been considered one of the fastest-growing in Europe. It is also recognised as one of the most stable and promising sectors in the CEE region.

In terms of employment, and despite the recent of economic changes, the Polish BSS sector has been recording an increase in its share in the labour market. It constantly attracts new investors who review their outsourcing strategies based on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic. Poland is becoming one of the beneficiaries of this trend.

Factors stimulating the growth of foreign investments in the country include global corporations’ increased favouring of nearshoring over offshoring and the attractive proportion of available high-quality workers relative to operational costs.

A competitive and diversified office market and an attractive investment incentive scheme are other strong arguments for locating investments in Poland.

These are the conclusions of the Onshore, Nearshore, Offshore: Unsure? report published by JLL and Hays Poland.

investment destination withdrew their plans, seeking to effect cost savings and deciding to wait out the turmoil within the global market.

On the other hand, the Polish BSS la­­­­bour market slowed down its growth in the first wave of the pandemic but recorded a strong rebound after a few months. Its high flexibility, combined with a marginal reduction in jobs, made it a stable industry, increasing its attractiveness in the eyes of both candidates and potential investors.

PANDEMIC CHALLENGES The COVID-19 pandemic undeniably had an impact on the Polish BSS sector. During the initial shock of the second quarter of 2020, many global corporations had to make strategic business decisions, including those related to ongoing and planned investments. The consequences for Poland were twofold: on the one hand, some projects were put on hold. Companies that had chosen Poland as their

74

SAFE(R) NEARSHORING In the face of global turmoil and uncertainty, many organisations decided to cut costs through investments, and Poland became a beneficiary of this strategy. Investors decided, for example, to liquidate multiple service centres in different locations and merge their pool of skills in single new centre located in Poland.

The effects of COVID-19 have led investors from various market sectors to give up offshoring investments and opt for nearshoring. Companies with geographically remote business service centres or supply chains typically suffered more due to the pandemic than those that chose nearshoring. For example, having a service centre in Asia, where in some cases the restrictions were stricter than in Europe, showed many companies that geographical distance can result in both advantages and disadvantages.

During the crisis, cultural differences and poor infrastructure became more noticeable and made the switch to remote working extremely difficult or even impossible in many cases. Meanwhile, stringent lockdowns in one part of the world may deprive a company on another continent of support in a key business area. Such issues very often resulted in payment backlogs or management without an IT helpdesk.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

POLAND'S POTENTIAL FOR BSS INVESTMENTS It is, therefore, not surprising that the latest investor inquiries in Poland have come mainly from other European countries, as companies recognise the potential of Poland’s central geographic location. Investors are tempted by a mature and large labour market, wide availability of modern office space, well-developed IT infrastructure and attractive incentives.

Poland is known to investors as a mature and diversified market, offering broad access to quali­fied employees who speak foreign languages. They are therefore increasingly interested in locating senior roles in Poland, which means servicing even more advanced processes. Recently, Poland has attracted the attention of pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies, which see the potential for employing highly qualified employees in the clini­­­cal trials sector.

Multiple organisations from the IT and tech­­­­­­nology market as well as the financial industry have expressed a similar interest.

Investment decisions are largely based on the availability of employees with specific skills. In terms of investors’ interest, roles in IT – with particular emphasis on experts in the field of digita­ lisation and cybersecurity – lead the way.

Finance is another equally popular area of expertise, with roles related to accounting, know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML). Investors also ask about roles in procurement and HR, and market access within the pharmaceutical industry.

A HIGHLY-QUALIFIED WORKFORCE Poland is competing mainly with other countries from Central and Eastern Europe for investment projects and more and more often with Portugal, Spain and France. Although salaries in the Polish BSS sector are often higher than in neighbouring countries, Poland often wins the competition for investments mainly due to the quality of available candidates. There are many educated specialists on the market who are fluent in foreign languages. Due to the central location of Poland, centres operating in the country sup­­­­p ort business processes in the largest number of foreign lan­­­ guages in the region. In addition to popular European languages, there are also centres employing people speaking Scandinavian and Baltic languages.

The effects of COVID-19 have led investors from various market sectors to give up offshoring investments and opt for nearshoring. Companies with geographically remote business service centres or supply chains typically suffered more due to the pandemic than those that chose nearshoring.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

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CAREER & DEVELOPMENT

There are many indications that remote work will continue in Polish business service centres for longer. This may be an opportunity for smaller urban centres, which will more often appear on the list of potential locations for new investments in business services. Nevertheless, metropolises still have an advantage over smaller cities and towns in attracting investment projects. Development potential remains key when choosing a location, and investors want to know whether it will be possible to expand the business in a given place by several dozen or even several hundred jobs.

Poland is competing mainly with other countries from Central and Eastern Europe for investment projects and more and more often with Portugal, Spain and France. Due to the central location of Poland, centres operating in the country support business processes in the largest number of foreign languages in the region.

76

Poland has made itself known to foreign investors as a country worthy of locating service centres.

This is due not only to the excellent ratio of the high quality of skills to their price but also the maturity of the BSS sector. Poland is the largest and historically best-developed business services market in the CEE region, which investors perceive as a guarantee of the success of their project. For this reason, they are willing to accept higher wages than, for example, in the Czech Republic or Hungary. The strength of the Polish business services market is also evidenced by the fact that it employs many foreigners. The sector most often attracts workers from the CEE region but has recently seen an influx of people from Western Europe – Portugal, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

It is also extremely important to assess whether a given location has the power to attract and retain employees. Investors therefore take into account the quality of life, the environment, and what the city has to offer its population. In this respect, local government bodies and regional investor assistance centres also play a key role. In addition, the availability of modern office space and communication infrastructure remain highly important.

WHAT COMES NEXT? Poland is assessed more comprehensively than ever before. Investors take into consideration much more than workforce availability, office market and cost of running a business in the country.

Respect for values that are most important for foreign employers are taken into account more and more often. Investors already know that the Polish market is mature and has a lot to offer, and it will be the nuances that will more often determine their choice of location. More advanced processes will certainly be transferred to the country, and the first investors who chose Poland as a country where key strategic business processes are serviced will largely determine what will happen in the future.

REMOTE WORK The business services sector has dealt very well with the market changes trig­­­­gered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overnight, employees of service centres in Po­­­­­land moved from offices to their homes, maintaining the continuity of supported business processes. The uni­versality of remote work has also opened the way for companies to recruit the best specialists, regardless of location.

Author:

Łukasz Grzeszczyk, Executive Director – Client Relations, Hays Poland

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

IPOSTA riposta.pl

CAREER & DEVELOPMENT

ORGANIZATION OF EVENTS – THEIR ROLE AND VALUE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD

Half of the representatives of HR, sales and marketing departments say that the pandemic has contributed to a decline in commitment and a hindrance to cooperation - indicates the latest Antal and Eventory report "Company meeting and events in times of change", whose patron is BRIEF. 60% of respondents consider the form of in-person meetings as having the best impact on employees' willingness to work, and 47% indicate the hybrid model.

Is the return on investment of online, in-person and hybrid meetings and business events measured and how?

Number of participants

47%

Profit from sales generated by the meeting or event

42% 41%

Number of new contacts in the customer base Evaluation of participants

35% 23%

Number of registrations Number of new contacts in the candidate database

18% 16%

Number of responses to survey

13%

Number of mentions in social media Number of publications in traditional media Other

8% 3%

Source: Antal and Eventory report Company meetings and events in times of change

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Most companies are aware of the important role of event marketing and despite the limitations and "changes to the rules of the game", they do not give up organi­ zing events. Each business meeting model has its own strengths, weaknesses and complexity levels. Which form of events will work best in terms of building relationships in the post-pandemic future?

WHAT IS THE VALUE OF ORGANIZING BUSINESS MEETINGS? Return on investment for an event is a flexi­ ­ble term that indicates the value that can be obtained after deducting the cost associated with organizing it. The value may be the income generated from registration, but may also include sponsorship and partnerships, potential customers added to the sales funnel, number of people who attended the event, participant satisfaction, PR and recruitment benefits, and more.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

What tools does the company use for online, in-person and hybrid business meetings and events?

Companies in Poland most often measure the return on investment from the organization of an event by analyzing the number of participants (47% of responses) and the profit on sales carried out during the meeting (42% of responses). The value of an event can be assessed, for example, on the basis of registrations, sponsorships, the number of new customers or a CV in the database, as well as many other goals and indicators that cannot always be expressed in PLN (generated leads, brand awareness, long-term customer value).

– Events as understood by the marketing, sales, HR and PR departments include training courses, meetings, meetups, conferences, team-building trips, CSR events and many other forms that the company organizes for its clients, employees and business partners. For years, marketers have been wondering how to prove their real impact on the company's business development. A pandemic ensued and many event managers lost their jobs or changed the scope of their responsibilities in the company. What's more, budgets for event activities have been cut significantly.

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

81%

Video conferencing tools such as Zoom Email tools such as Gmail, Outlook

71%

Social Media (Facebook)

42%

Data reporting tools such as Excel

41%

PDF files for participants (e.g. event agenda, list of participants)

35%

Tools to create registration forms

26%

Email marketing tools such as MailChimp, FreshMail

26%

Apps for asking questions to speakers

22%

Survey tools such as Google Forms, SurveyMonkey

22%

SMS campaigns

22%

Source: Antal and Eventory report Company meetings and events in times of change

Why? Since the company did not know the specific effects of event marketing, such a move by many of them seemed obvious – explains Natalia Pocztowska, Head of Sales Eventory.

include software for video calling, such as Zoom or MS Teams (81% of responses) and messaging tools in the form of popular e-mail boxes. Less than half of the respondents use social media, reporting tools or even those THE BIG ROLE OF DIGITAL TOOLS enabling the preparation of mateIN THE ORGANIZATION OF EVENTS rials for participants. More advanced Currently, the most popular tools used solutions are used by less than half of during the organization of meetings the participants.

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CAREER & DEVELOPMENT

– Recruiters and marketers have had digital tools for a long time, but now the emphasis on them is much greater, and the accep­ tance of this communication channel by target groups is growing. When talking about strategy, creation, new solutions and technologies in marketing, it is important to be able to exchange market informa­ tion and seek knowledge through industry meetings, events or conferences – says Iwo Paliszewski, CEE Marketing & Employer Branding Manager Antal.

What model of business meetings and events will be most often used in the company of the future?

77%

Hybrid In-person Online

20% 3% 43%

Hybrid 26%

In-person Online

THE FREQUENCY OF ORGANIZING EVENTS AND BUILDING COMMITMENT The main goals of organizing meetings and events from the perspective of HR representatives are education and training, recruitment and internal communication. Willingness to develop, expanding knowledge and acquiring new skills affect the effectiveness of business activi­ ties, which determines the possibility of

30% 54%

Hybrid In-person

31%

Online

15% 58%

Hybrid In-person

26%

Online

17%

HR

Marketing and PR

Sales

All

Source: Antal and Eventory report Company meetings and events in times of change

80

Outsourcing&More | September–October 2021

Currently, the most popular tools used during the organization of meetings include software for video calling, such as Zoom or MS Teams (81% of responses) and messaging tools in the form of popular e-mail boxes. Less than half of the respondents use social media, reporting tools or even those enabling the preparation of materials for participants.

More advanced solutions are used by less than half of the participants.

achieving better results by the company.

Human resource management departments can contribute to improving the quality of services and products offered, including by organi­zing training courses for employees. Most often, meetings are organized in the areas of HR and sales. In the case of these groups, most respondents chose the answer that business events are organized "several times a week", 73% and 68%, respectively.

half (43%) of marketing and PR representatives share the opinion.

– In order to provide all participants with the same opportunities – especially those who choose to participate online in the event – special attention should be paid to the digital part. Tools for conducting the on-line part of the quality reflecting the possibilities of the partici­ pant in the in-person part will be sought and desired. What does it mean? At a face– By observing the current mood and to-face event, the participant can simply talking to our partners, we anticipate walk up to another person to talk to. two scenarios. In the first of them, when Thus, in the hybrid model, the option of we finally manage to return to the reality networking and talking to others should from before the pandemic, we expect also be provided to the participant in an a sudden increase in participants' interest online event – says Jakub Śmietana, Sales in stationary events. After a long time of Leader Eventory. online events, participants will primarily be hungry for human interaction. The second *** scenario is that a large proportion of people will prefer online participation. Time saving, ABOUT THE RESEARCH travel costs and ease of access to the event The Antal and Eventory survey was con­­­ are the overwhelming advantages of ducted among 316 managers, including online participation. In the future, there­ HR (32%), Marketing and PR (36%) and fore, we must take into account the prefe­ Sales (32%), using the CAWI method, on rences of the audience and, when plan­ February 15-28, 2021. The report aims to ning events, aim at hybrid events – adds describe the role that online, in-person Agnieszka Kapłon, Head of Customer (traditional face to face) and hybrid meetSuccess Eventory. ings and business events (live events with simultaneous online transmission, A FUTURE OF HYBRID MEETINGS enabling remote participation) play in AND EVENTS building an active attitude of employees, Businesses can already see that online customers and partners of the company. events and meetings have a lot of advantages. As the most important companies, Download the report here: they indicate better ranges, better attendance at events or lower costs. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to 100% replace an offline event with an online event.

According to the survey respondents, it was easier to establish relationships during in-person events and ultimately lead to a transaction.

58% of respondents choose a hybrid model of meetings in the future. Hybrid events allow you to combine the strengths of online and in-person events. This is probably why the respondents repreAuthor: senting various areas agree that they will most often be organized in the future.

In the case of HR representatives, as many as 77% believe that the hybrid will be the model most often used in the future, 54% of sales representatives and almost

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