Investment boom in Katowice

Summing up the data for the last year, it is clear that the Silesian market is able to cope well with the challenges faced by business. As in previous years, in 2022 many investors decided to locate their branches in Silesia or expand their existing operations in the region.

The industry that has been constantly developing, e.g. by implementing subsequent stages of recruitment, is modern business services. The growth of this sector is noticeable in Katowice and the GZM Metropolis, where, from 2017 to now, it has generated over 12,000 new jobs. It is expected that the total employment, for which Katowice is responsible in the vast majority, will exceed 32,000 people in Q1 2023. In the past year, the activity of investors did not decrease, there was an increase in the number of new investment projects and reinvestments of companies located in Katowice.

ADVANTAGES OF KATOWICE

Investors are invariably attracted by access to qualified specialist and managerial staff, educational centers, supportive business environment and developed infrastructure. Currently, the most important asset of Katowice are human resources, which are growing annually by nearly 23,000 graduates of Upper Silesian universities whose educational profile meets the needs of SSC/GBS, IT and R&D centers.

In addition, in Katowice, investors, HR agencies, universities and schools implement activities to increase the availability of human resources through various jointly implemented programs, e.g. Corporate Readiness Certificate (CRC) – addressed to students and graduates, P-TECH for high school students, or "Katowice, business and my future".

Foreign companies locate processes related to finance and customer service in local service centers, and more and more often they also consider the creation of IT hubs.

GLOBAL BRANDS’ INVESTMENTS

It is true that investors see the potential of Katowice and associate their business future with the city, which translates into new, attractive jobs for residents. The best example – PwC Service Delivery Center in Katowice started 14 years ago with 15 people, and in mid-January this year nearly 1,800 employees moved to new headquarters in the most prestigious location, where the company rented 9 floors in the city's tallest office building .KTW II which is nearly a quarter of the office space available in the skyscraper. In 2009, PwC helped build the investment credibility of Katowice and was one of the factors that stimulated the development of the modern business services sector in our city. Today, we are an important economic center of our country, which can compete with other European cities.

The turn of 2022 and 2023 is also an important moment in the development history of the Vaillant Group, which chose Katowice as its place to grow its IT and Data Processing potential. As part of the investment, the Vaillant Group opened a modern IT Hub in Katowice with which ultimately delivers 200 new places, attractive and challenging work. Representatives of the Vailant Group emphasize that the development of operations in Poland is one of the key strategic priorities for the company.

GlobalLogic, a company from Silicon Valley, operating all over the world and a leader in the digital engineering industry, has also decided to take advantage of the business potential of our city, opening a new branch in Katowice. Within a year, over 100 IT specialists dealing with projects for the automotive sector will find work in the center.

Nexi Digital continues to develop, already recruiting more qualified software engineers. In fact, the Polish office is already a Center of Excellence for delivering high-end software products dedicated to digital payments and e-commerce platforms in the Agile methodology.

Adverity is another company with a branch in Katowice, which, through its marketing and data teams, provides and shows one, accurate picture of company data. The well-known American company Genpact Services, with the support of PAIH, decided to develop its business services center and create almost 300 new jobs.

Many entrepreneurs has increased significantly last year, e.g. SD Worx – in 2022 it tripled employment compared to 2021 and currently employs about 130 people. Ammega Business Services Center – today it employs over 100 people and this number is still growing. And finally, LKQ Europe with its innovation and service center, which plans to employ up to 250 people in the medium term.

Companies associated with Katowice for years do not rest either, they change, they invest here, it is worth mentioning: Capgemini with a new Cloud Infrastructure Services center, ING Tech Poland, Rockwell Automation, TMF, or Sopra Steria, which in 2022 celebrated its 15th anniversary in Katowice. It is also impossible not to mention the recent recruitment achievements of Keywords Studios – a leader in the gaming industry, which in just 4 years recorded an impressive increase in employment from less than 50 to over 1,000 people.

A CLIMATE THAT SUPPORTS DEVELOPMENT

The city is aware that its potential, i.e. thousands of university graduates, a network of universities, a favourable geographical location and a wide range of office space attract investors. At the end of 2022, the stock of office space in Katowice reached a high level of 735,000 sqm, while in 2023 it is expected to increase by 60,000 sqm. Last year, such office investments were completed as: .KTW II, Global Office Park A1 and A2, DL Tower and Carbon Office. At the end of the year, it was also announced that a new office project was launched: Grundmanna Office Park, which will provide 48,000 sqm of surface.

It is equally important to take care of the quality of life in the city so that both residents and investors feel stable and comfortable. That is why the city conducts constant investments – from greenery, through financing clean energy sources and supporting road transport infrastructure so that it does not make life difficult but improves it. In Q2 of 2023, construction works worth PLN 148 M will start, which will significantly relieve the most heavily used arteries, but also improve the safety of road users.

Such a strategy brings results – according to the INRIX report "Global Traffic Scorecard" 2022, the analysis of traffic around the world indicated that Katowice is the leader among the LEAST congested cities in Poland and Europe. Among 1,000 cities on 5 continents, Katowice took a very good 250th place in the ranking with a loss of 34 hours per year. For comparison: Wrocław is ranked 35th in the world and 1st in Poland, where we lose 80 hours a year. 44. position for Poznań where the driver spends 74 hours in traffic jams. Warsaw 51st place and 64 lost hours. Krakow is 53rd on the list, where we lose 66 hours of life, in Lodz, which has 78th place, we stand in our car "only" 58 hours.

And at the end of this good news for Katowice, taking it with a grain of salt but not trivializing it – KATOWICE was in the top of the ranking for THE MOST CUTE CITY in Poland! Only Szczecin and Wrocław were higher. As you can see, we have solid evidence that Katowice is worth investing in!

On the top: Visualization of Grundmanna Office Park. Photo: Cavatina

This article comes from magazine:
FOCUS ON Business #9 March-April (2/2023)