BUSINESS SERVICES SECTOR IN POLAND 2020 Report prepared by the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL) in cooperation with JLL, Mercer, Randstad Poland and Randstad Sourceright Our substantive partner in the publication “Business Services Sector in Poland 2020” within the scope of preparing data on the academic and higher education sector is the National Information Processing Institute – National Research Institute. 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CONTENTS EMPLOYMENT IN 2020 BY DATE 48 FOREWORD 5 OF ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTER; SIGNIFICANCE OF INFLow OF FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 EMPLOYEE TURNOVER 50 NON-PAYROLL BENEFITS 51 GLOBAL TRENDS 8 SHARE OF WOMEN IN EMPLOYMENT 53 DIVERSITY AND SOCIAL INCLUSION POLICY 55 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE FORESIGHT SURVEY 10 MAP OF BUSINESS SERVICES CENTERS 56 CONDUCTED BY ABSL IN POLAND BUSINESS SERVICES AS A LOCAL 64 POLANd – KEY FACTS 14 SPECIALIZATION ASSESSMENT OF LOCATION AS A PLACE 67 OF doIng buSINESS CONCEPT AND METHODOLOGY OF THE REPORT 15 CITY PROFILES 70 1 STATE OF THE BUSINESS SERVICES SECTOR 18 SERVICES PROVIDED AND OPERATING MODELS 81 STRUCTURE OF CLIENTS SuppoRTED 82 IN POLAND IN 2020 BY CENTERS IN POLAND BY INDUSTRY OVERALL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECTOR 18 GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE OF SERVICES DELIVERED 83 NUMBER OF CENTERS AND STRUCTURE OF NEW 22 PROCESS CATEGORIES SUPPORTED 86 INVESTMENTS BY BUSINESS SERVICES CENTERS IN POLAND THE ROLE OF THE SECTOR IN THE TRADE 26 CHANGE IN SCOPE OF SERVICES DELIVERED 88 IN COMMERCIAL SERVICES SOPHISTICATION OF THE BUSINESS PROCESSES 89 FOREIGN INVESTMENTS 28 LANGUAGES USED AT BUSINESS SERVICES 90 COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF BUSINESS SERVICES 29 CENTERS CENTERS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES AND INFORMATION 92 PERCEPTIONS OF COMPETITION ON THE LOCAL 34 TECHNOLOGY USED AT BUSINESS SERVICES LABOR MARKET CENTERS EMPLOYMENT IN THE SECTOR 36 SHIFT WORK 96 EMPLOYMENT IN THE LARGEST CENTERS 39 PROCESS AUTomATIon And ARTIFICIAL 97 IN POLAND INTELLIGENCE AT CENTERS IN POLAnd AVERAGE HEADCOUNT AT BUSINESS SERVICES 40 2 OFFICE MARKET 104 CENTERS BY LOCATION EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE BY AGE GROUP, 41 JOB POSITION AND BUSINESS PROCESS 3 LABOR MARKET AND SALARIES 118 EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE IN SELECTED 42 LOCATIONS BY TYPE OF CENTER 4 PLANS AND CHALLENGES; RESILIENCE 166 FOREIGNERS EMPLOYED IN BUSINESS SERVICES 45 TO SHOCKS CENTERS EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE IN THE SECTOR 46 BY BUSINESS SERVICES CENTER PARENT COMPANY INDUSTRY Business Services Sector in Poland 2020 5 Foreword FOREWORD Dear Readers, » in the IT sphere, the programming languages used with respect to technologies prevailing at the services Last year’s 10th anniversary of the founding of ABSL centers researched by ABSL proved to be relevant. and its research activity for the business services sector inspired us to step up our efforts to provide you with On behalf of the entire ABSL research team, I would even more extensive and comprehensive information like to thank the sector leaders who, as part of our about our sector. The ABSL Strategic Board (the 2020- new format – an annual foresight study – shared 2022 term) expressed its complete support for the with us their practical insights and thoughts about new directions of growth for ABSL research, in order the future and direction of the business services sector to enable increasingly effective promotion of the sector in Poland. This year’s report provides an overview of the in Poland and abroad. panel discussion, and a more detailed report will soon be available on www.absl.pl. Therefore, it gives us even greater satisfaction to provide you with this new iteration of the report. It contains We trust that you find this report useful and, additional and, in our view, compelling aspects that point as always, we encourage you to contact and work with to even greater ties between the sector and the Polish ABSL’s research team. economy. It is worth noting that: Wojciech Popławski » we were first to attempt an assessment of the Vice President, ABSL sector’s role in trade in commercial services in Poland, Managing Director, Accenture Operations » we looked at the rate of growth of employment in the sector categorized by the year operations commenced, » we researched the cities, highlighting those where the business services sector has become a key local industry, 6 Business Services Sector in Poland 2020 Executive summary EXECUTIVE SUmmARY The business services sector is one of the most generates 82% of jobs in 970 centers established important and dynamically developing elements by investors from 43 different countries. Of particular of the Polish economy. Changes in the sector are in importance is American capital (300 centers line with the growing importance of services to the and more than a 20% share of employment). overall economy. Services are becoming the de facto driving force of the economy, and this is having Foreign capital continues to prefer the main business an increasing impact on the image of the sector. locations in Poland (Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities), reinvesting Services also constitute one of the pillars of the over time in smaller locations. Yet, over the past economy’s international competitiveness. In the two years, there has been a clear increase in the impor- context of the need for transformations in line with tance of Polish investors. They are willingly opening the paradigms of Industry 4.0, the role of this sector centers in Tier 3 and Tier 4 locations, as well as in is already significant, and may grow further. mid-sized towns, contributing to a gradual transforma- tion of local economies (outside the main metropolises). In 2008, 50,000 people were employed in the business services sector in Poland. At the end of Q1 2020, that This increase in the significance of Polish busi- figure was 338,000 people in more than 1,500 centers nesses is particularly due to the IT sector, which (5.2% of those employed in business). Taking generates more jobs than other subsectors. account of multiplier effects, the sector generates In general, though, the effectiveness of foreign 608,000 jobs. And, according to the latest ABSL capital in creating new jobs is significantly higher. estimates, it accounts for 3,0-3,5% of Poland’s GDP. In addition to this quantitative growth, the business The overall value of business services sector exports services sector is changing considerably in terms was estimated as USD 19.8 billion at the end of 2019. of quality. There is a definite trend towards more No less than 70% of this value accounts for the comprehensive processes (a shift from back-office centers analyzed in this report. The value of exports to middle-office services), which generates more exceeds the value of imports by USD 8 billion. This added value. This process requires more and more surplus first appeared in 2008 and has grown steadily. well-educated and experienced personnel, which The CAGR for export exchange in the years 2005- implies searching for employees with higher and newer 2019 achieved an impressive level of 20.9% (twice competences and qualifications (‘skills of the future’). that of the commercial services sector overall), and the sector’s share in exports of commercial One of the sector’s distinguishing features is its services went up from 7.7% to 27.5%. multinational character – centers in Poland employ people from 65 different states, and 12% of those In the past two years, the number of entities working in the sector are foreigners. The sector entering the sector has declined, and the employ- provides services in 38 different languages. ment growth rate has slowed down. The sector is entering a phase of mature development char- It is also undergoing a digital transformation. acterized by a consolidation of activities. The majority of entities declare introduction of intelligent process automation, while the use Previously, most growth was based on the entry of robots and artificial intelligence is also on the rise. and activity of foreign capital. 95 investors from Employees replaced by IPA can be reassigned to more the Fortune Global 500 list are now active in the complex tasks, and the effectiveness of their work Polish business services sector – these are key global can increase under the paradigm of hybrid work.