Attracting investments

POLAND is one of the most attractive locations for investments and the provision of business services. This is confirmed by the latest data from the ABSL report and the ABSL strategic partnership, established in July of this year, with the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH), with the aim of attracting even more foreign investments in the area of modern business services, leading to the creation of new jobs.

CONSTANT GROWTH

According to the ABSL report “Business Services Sector in Poland 2021," of the 1,602 business service centers that are currently operating in Poland, 1,078 are represented by foreign companies. Just in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, an impressive 74 new service centers were established in Poland. The largest share in the creation of new centers during this period came from American investors (32.4%), ahead of Polish companies (17.6%), followed by investors from Germany, the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Spain. In total, the investors came from 17 different countries.

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Today, employers in the business services sector have created over 355,000 jobs in Poland. Forecasts presented in the latest ABSL “Strategic Foresight” report show that the number of employees working in service centers may double over the next 10 years. At the same time, the complexity of services provided in Poland is systematically increasing. We are observing a clear trend towards a greater role of complex processes and a shift from back-office to middle-office, which generates higher added value. The qualitative development of the sector, in which the share of advanced processes is growing, requires more and more experienced specialists and managers. This means that, in the long term, it will be necessary to secure the availability of employees with the appropriate skills. There is a certain likelihood that there will be a need for employees who can perform global functions. 

DEMAND FOR DIGITAL SKILLS

Given that the sector is dominated by centers providing IT services (45.9% of the total), the demand for employees with digital skills will continue to grow for the business services sector. Currently, the labor market observes increased demand for specializations that are primarily related to process automation, cloud architecture, and the analysis and mining of large data sets. In order to maintain Poland's competitiveness and the transformation from clearinghouses to decision support centers, it seems that systemic, often long-term solutions that include expanding the talent base are needed. Today, the only way forward for the sector is to continuously improve its skills and to take on increasingly complex and demanding processes. We must take care of developing skills related to innovation, modern technologies, and digitization.

TALENT GAP IN IT SECTOR

Digital transformation will be a huge challenge for business services companies in the near future. Contrary to popular belief, it will be less about the technologies themselves and more about people and their ability to adapt to the technologies. This is why it is so important to develop skills among the new generation, bridging the gap between talent supply and demand, enabling them to secure their potential for the future. Today, the barrier to developing innovation is primarily the lack of skilled workers who can introduce, translate and develop these innovations. The employee market is a good market. Competition is a good thing. These are the natural and desirable forces of a free economy that best regulate supply and demand.

INITIATIVES FOR CLOSING THE GAP

High-quality development programs building required skills are crucial for future business development and a constantly evolving economy. ABSL is taking initiatives to further shrink the competence gap on the Polish labor market, such as: launching Global Business Service (GBS) studies at the Kraków University of Economics, as well as the Skills of the Future Academy 2021-2026 project in cooperation with the global organization CIMA (The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants). Additionally, students at both secondary schools and universities should focus more on acquiring foreign language skills to better answer the growing needs of the business sector. Adapting education at various levels and introducing systemic solutions that broaden the skills of employees to meet the needs of innovative businesses is necessary in order to strengthen the competitiveness of Poland in the international arena.

Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL) is a Poland-based organization representing some 200 companies from the business services sector. Janusz Dziurzyński is the vice president of ABSL.