The salaries in the Polish BPO/SSC sector are growing higher and higher

2016 will see the increase of salaries in the BPO/SSC sector – even up to 5%, according to the estimates of Page Personnel. The specialists working in the areas of finance, accounting and customer service are the ones who earn the most.

“Salaries of professionals with several years of experience may even exceed PLN 10 000 gross per month. They depend, of course, on the location – the highest are in Warsaw. In the best situation are internal auditors (PLN 8 000 – 12 500), financial analysts (PLN 8 300 – 10 000), auditors of banking products (PLN 5 500 – 9 500) and leaders of accounting teams (PLN 7 000 – 12 000). The accountants’ salaries range from PLN 3 500 (for a junior accountant) up to PLN 9 500 (for a senior accountant with the knowledge of a few foreign languages). On the other hand, the earnings of shared service centres directors can amount even to PLN 45 000” – says Wojciech Bartz from the Shared Services Centres team at Page Personnel.

Experts who speak several languages are the most sought-after employees. There is also a huge demand for persons with the knowledge of Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish or Dutch. The knowledge of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian is also valued. The demand for specialists who speak French, German, Spanish and Italian does not decrease either.

Poland tempts investors

Currently in Poland there are more than 950 business services centres in 17 locations, which employ more than 200,000 people in total. Among the greatest strengths of Poland – important for the BPO/SSC sector – are: qualified staff, high quality services and competitive labour costs. The additional advantage is the European time zone, as well as cultural cohesion with the Western Europe. In addition, the list of benefits also includes issues such as exemption from the corporate income tax and real estate tax, as well as grants from the European Union. An important aspect is the fact, that Poland has a broad pool of skilled workers who speak foreign languages – currently, Polish SSCs provide services in more than 30 languages.

“It is an undeniable hallmark – for example in comparison with India. Although the cost of doing business in Poland may be slightly higher than in India, it is balanced by higher quality of services and qualifications of employees. Therefore, companies that are planning to launch shared services centres in order to support advanced processes, decide on choosing our country” – says Anna Durczak from the Shared Services Centres team at Page Personnel.

The well-developed infrastructure and availability of office space with good access to airports also speak in favour of Poland. According to the Page Personnel report “Market Overview. Shared Services Centers. Business Process Outsourcing. Poland, 2016”, at the end of the first quarter of 2016 we had a total of 8.3 million sq. m of modern office space in Warsaw, Krakow, Wroclaw, Tri-City, Katowice, Poznan, Lodz, Szczecin and Lublin. And the average monthly rent amounted to approx. PLN 55 per sq. m, while the highest rents in class A buildings ranged between PLN 45 and PLN 101 per sq. m.

The goldmine of talent

A hallmark of our region is also the access to a broad talent pool. In Poland there are about 1.5 million students, and 485,000 people annually get a university degree. Technical expertise and the knowledge of foreign languages is particularly appreciated – for a combination of these competences the companies are prepared to offer a salary higher by even 10–20 percent. As a result, the interest of the candidates in the BPO/SSC sector is increasing. In addition, in order to attract potential employees, Shared Services Centres tempt them with broad social packages. Their standard elements are healthcare, life insurance, lunch coupons, language and vocational courses, as well as discounts (mainly for the company’s products and services). Among the rarest benefits, however, are pension funds, share purchasing opportunity or dental care.

More information can be found in the Page Personnel report “Market Overview. Shared Services Centers. Business Process Outsourcing. Poland, 2016”