The technology center of the British bank "Barclays" in Vilnius, which announced that it is considering laying off about a third of its employees, has probably found cheaper alternatives for business development, according to the head of the "Investors' Forum", which unites foreign investors. Rūta Skyrienė admitted that "Barclays" has become a symbol of successful foreign investment attraction, therefore disappointment in the public cannot be avoided.
Paulius Vertelka, director of the association of information technology (IT) companies "Infobalt", claims that the expected laid-off Barclays employees make up only a small part of those working in this sector, and with a high demand for specialists, they will be in demand on the market.
According to the recruitment company “Indigroup" of the manager Karolis Blaževičius, if Barclays abandons not only IT, but also service specialists, it will be more difficult for the latter to find a new job.
R. Skyrienė: modern business is mobile
According to the head of the Investor Forum, modern business is constantly looking for more attractive and cheaper development opportunities, so Barclays' decision should not be surprising. R. Skyrienė emphasizes that there are still no "normal" flights to London from Vilnius, although this was probably not a decisive factor for the investor's decision.
"I don't know the reasons why they are considering such a decision, but every business calculates and looks at where it is better for them. I don't think that Lithuania has made mistakes, but with an investor from Great Britain, not having normal flights to London is abnormal (…) We will never have the power to attract investors if we remain the only country in the European Union without a direct flight to Heathrow or another central London airport Rūta Skyrienė told BNS.
According to her, the low-cost airlines currently offering flights to London's peripheral airports are very convenient for "taking Lithuanians to London", but they are not suitable for meeting the needs of serious investors.
"The same can be said about the airports of Paris or other major economic and financial centers," emphasized the head of the Investor Forum.
However, according to her, poor communication with Lithuania was probably not the main reason for Barclays' decision.
"I think the time has come for such a decision, maybe there are cheaper places (...) Besides, I don't know what kind of employees, what specialties are promoted, maybe it affects call center (call center - BNS) department, but this is not the only activity of service centers. There are other jobs that Lithuania is sufficiently competent and competitive to provide," R. Skyrienė explained.
"I think everything is good, we still have those service centers and we will have them," she added.
According to the head of the "Investors Forum", business is very mobile in the modern world, and this applies not only to service centers, but also to manufacturing companies.
"Nowadays, it is possible to set up a factory in one month, so there is no need to think that investments in production branches are more stable," asserted R. Skyrienė.
She admitted that Barclays, which has become one of the first international technology centers in Lithuania, has become a symbol of successful foreign investment attraction, so public disappointment cannot be avoided.
"However, this is not a tragedy (...) We are growing, developing, and the competencies of our people are also increasing. I'm just worried that they don't move those people along, that can't be ruled out either - trained specialists are sometimes simply transferred to other countries. We are happy while they are there and pay taxes in Lithuania", said R. Skyrienė.
Barclays staff will be in demand in the market
According to Infobalt director P. Vertelka, more than 30 thousand people work in the information and communication technology sector. employees, so the number of 350 expected layoffs is not very significant.
"I don't know what kind of people are going to be laid off, but when there is such a great need for specialists, the market will quickly redistribute them. I don't think it will be a problem," P. Vertelka told BNS.
According to him, the decision of Barclays to give up a third of the center's employees should not become a trend.
"They themselves claim that they are not doing so because of the investment environment situation. I am partly inclined to believe so. Yes, the prices of our employees are rising and will continue to rise, it is only a matter of time when Lithuania will become too expensive for some positions in those service centers. Here, the race is to see how much work requiring higher qualifications, which are more creative, require more complex functions, can be transferred to those service centers", said P. Vertelka.
Indigroup director K. Blaževičius emphasized that service workers working at the Barclays center would have more problems finding a new job if they were fired.
"I guess it could be customer service specialists who speak a foreign language, like Swedish or English. They are really needed (on the market - BNS). These may be IT specialists who would not have a hard time finding a job, but I doubt them (that they will be fired - BNS). It may affect service specialists more," K. Blaževičius told BNS.
According to him, the name of the former workplace will help former Barclays employees to find a new job.
"The brand is important when planning your career. Barclays is a valued company. It is not one of the best companies in Lithuania, I would not distinguish it as a special forge of talent, but this name is known. I think it is clear to other market players what Barclays people know, understand and what they can offer," K. Blaževičius emphasized.
He added that the labor market in Vilnius is the most active, which also reduces the probability of long job searches.
"They are all in Vilnius, and the labor market here is the best in Lithuania. Specialists are needed," said the personnel selection specialist.
"Invest in Lithuania"- 13,3 thousand will be needed in three years. ICT specialists
Barclays is one of the first large companies to open a service center in Lithuania. According to Invest in Lithuania, the establishment of Barclays became a symbolic step that encouraged more financial companies to move part of their operations to Lithuania. Since 2009, about 50 more centers have been established in the country.
The number of people working in service centers in Lithuania grows by 1-2 thousand every year. and currently reaches over 15 thousand. "Invest in Lithuania" announces that the number of information and communication technology (ICT) specialists has grown 10 times faster than the total number of hired employees over the past three years.
A study conducted this year by "Infobalt", "Invest in Lithuania" and the Center for Monitoring and Analysis of Science and Studies (MOSTA) showed that 13,3 thousand will be needed in the market of information communications and technologies within three years. specialists.
Investors soon to settle in the country - Booking.com, Centric, NKT, Telia - will additionally create more than 3 thousand. job places.
According to "Invest in Lithuania", at the end of 2017 there were 71 service centers in the country, and 16 new or expansion projects of such centers were announced last year - as a result, the number of jobs will increase by another 2,6 thousand.
"We see that investors are looking to Lithuania more and more often, knowing that crowded markets and extremely fierce competition for employees and office buildings await them in the neighboring markets. Meanwhile, in Vilnius and Beautiful there is relatively low market saturation - 19 out of 1000 people work in business centers in the capital, 6,7 out of 1000 inhabitants in Kaunas. For comparison, in Prague, service centers employ 32,3 out of 1000 inhabitants, and in Krakow this indicator is twice as high and reaches as much as 66,1 out of 1000 inhabitants", BNS reported "Invest in Lithuania".
Currently, Vilnius also has Western Union, Danske Bank, Nasdaq technology centers,Swedbank" center of non-financial services, IT and service centers of other foreign companies also operate.
According to Sodros, the average pre-tax salary of Barclays employees was around €2089 in February this year.
"Barclays" announced on Saturday that due to the bank's long-term global strategy and optimization of processes, the functions of about 350 employees may be eliminated or transferred to another country in Lithuania.
The technology center, which started working in Vilnius in May 2010, now employs more than 1,1 thousand people. workers. Rise Vilnius, a workspace for business startups established by Barclays, also operates in Vilnius.
Authors: Mindaugas Samkus, Pranciškus Vaišvila, Šarūnas Sabaitis
