When Danish companies employ academics, engineers or other highly-qualified staff, they are increasingly looking abroad to recruit. This is because nearby locations like the Baltic States offer easy access to highly qualified employees available at lower costs than in Denmark.
Substantial Expansion in Lithuania
Since 2010, Danish companies have created over 1,000 new specialist jobs in Lithuania alone. Furthermore, several companies are currently considering expanding into Lithuania and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe.
The Baltic countries in particular have succeeded in attracting knowledge-intensive Danish companies into the region. Danske Bank, COWI, Columbus and Adform are amongst the approximately 330 Danish companies that are now present in the Baltic region.
Invest Lithuania is a government organization that promotes foreign investment in Lithuania. According to its General Manager, Mantas Katinas, the increase in knowledge-intensive jobs in the country is the result of a mix of liberal measures and a well-educated population:
– “The increased interest can be attributed to our liberal economic policy, including our free economic zones, and also to Lithuania’s highly educated population. Ninety-three per cent of the population has a secondary school education, which is the highest percentage in the EU. Fifty-one per cent of young people aged 25-34 have a university education. It is precisely this pool of talented young people that attracts Danish companies.”
Faster to find qualified employees
Adform, a Danish IT company with branches in Lithuania, Poland and Belarus, are currently expanding their offices. According to its co-founder Jakob Bak, Lithuania fulfilled all the company’s needs.[quote text=”It was primarily the cost level that made it attractive for Adform to start up in Lithuania. But we soon realized that it was also quicker to find qualified employees in Lithuania than in Denmark” name_surname=”Jakob Bak” description=”Co-founder of Adform” left=””]
– “It was primarily the cost level that made it attractive for Adform to start up in Lithuania. But we soon realized that it was also quicker to find qualified employees in Lithuania than in Denmark,” says Mr. Bak; adding that Adform is also expanding in Great Britain.
Good market conditions support business growth
Lithuania is attracting foreign companies through various initiatives that aim to ensure that companies get the expertise they need within their industry. This has been important for IT firm Columbus, whose operations in Lithuania have seen continuous growth since their establishment.
– “Lithuania has initiatives dedicated to supporting international service companies, so-called Shared Service Centers, for those who want to establish themselves in Lithuania. This means, among other things, that we receive support for employee training enabling them to become even more skilled. In addition, the Lithuanian labour market is characterized by people with a good educational background. So it’s certainly possible to find well-qualified employees,” says CEO Thomas Honoré.
Columbus, which develops resource planning IT systems, has seen personnel numbers increase twelvefold since their establishment in Lithuania 24 years ago, and plans to expand even more within the next three years.
According to Invest Lithuania, there has been a 17 percent increase in the number of Danish companies in Lithuania since January 2011.
Read full article at idag.dk
