Employers in Szczecin increase employment - what candidates are they looking for? The most important trends in the labour market

46% of employers in the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship plan to increase employmet, on average by 23%. Szczecin is an attractive market for logistics, renewable energy sources (RES), ICT sector and shared services centres and business process outsourcing (SSC/BPO) sector. The Szczecin Metropolis Development Agency together with Antal published a report entitled “Human capital and labour market perspectives in Szczecin” which presents the most important trends and data about Szczecin’s labour market.

On 23 May, during a meeting of the city authorities of Szczecin with the employers from the region, the report entitled “Human Capital in Szczecin” was published. The analysis included the city’s developmental indicators, as well as the quantitative and qualitative research of employers, educational institutions and students.

Szczecin is a city full of energy. This is evidenced by new investments and the growing number of companies present in the Szczecin agglomeration. Szczecin’s cross-border, waterfront location, its entrepreneurial people and the city’s academic potential make Szczecin, a green port situated at the crossroads of transport routes, a centre for the exchange of goods, services and ideas adds Piotr Krzystek, the Mayor of Szczecin.

Antal’s observations show that human capital of a given region is one of the key factors influencing companies' decision on the choice of location for their future operations. When a company is considering an investment in a new location, the human capital resources available in the region can impact the overall success and cost of the entire project. That is why it is worth building knowledge about the city’s potential and its challenges, as it is one of the most important steps in building a conscious development strategy comments Agnieszka Wójcik, Market Research & PR Manager at Antal.

5 major trends on Szczecin's labour market

Szczecin is an attractive labour market. The majority of employees work in the trade sector, especially in the following sectors: retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, transport and storage, accommodation and catering and information and communication. The most important sectoral trends indicated by the report are:

• 67% of SSC/BPO employers agree on the need for employees combining specialist knowledge and education with soft skills
• half of the surveyed RES employers expect the dynamic development of the sector in the near future
• 50% of employers in the ICT sector in Szczecin are also focusing on the huge demand for software developers and the challenges related to acquiring qualified employees
• 33% of employers representing the logistics sector indicate the automation of processes, i.e. a shift from repetitive tasks to those requiring creativity and abstract thinking
• 7% of specialists and managers would consider relocating to Szczecin if they received an attractive job offer – this gives the city the 8th position in Poland, ahead of such cities as Rzeszów, Lublin, Bydgoszcz, Olsztyn or Częstochowa

In recent years, Szczecin has attracted the attention of investors as a development area for many industries, but the activity of BPO, SSC, ICT centres is developing the most rapidly. In the surrounding towns, as well as in the whole West Pomeranian Voivodeship, industry, logistics and services are flourishing, and in Szczecin itself the biggest growth is observed in the sector of high-tech services and in the sector of Shared Services Centres (SSC) adds Oliwia Płoska, SSC/BPO Consultant at Antal.

The demand for human capital is constantly growing

According to the survey entitled “Human Capital in Szczecin”, 59% of employers in the logistics sector plan to maintain their current headcount. 80% of employers in the RES sector intend to increase their current headcount. 50% of companies from the SSC/BPO sector plan to increase their current headcount by an average of 14% in 2022. And as much as 100% of the ICT companies in Szczecin plan to increase their headcount by an average of 15% in the near future.

The fourth industrial revolution entails the full coexistence of man with automation and IT systems in a global environment which naturally imposes many changes in both production organisations and service companies. It is becoming a priority for companies to acquire employees who can efficiently operate in the world of new technologies. The annual increase in employment in Szczecin was recorded, among others, in the following sections: construction (by 15.3%), professional, scientific and technical activity sector (by 9.8%) and administration and support service activities (by 8.0%) comments Artur Skiba, President of Antal.

Most desired skills among employees

According to employers representing the logistics sector in Szczecin, the most important direction for the development of the industry is the automation of processes, i.e. moving from repetitive tasks to those requiring creativity and abstract thinking. Every third company thinks so. By contrast, a trend strongly felt by every fifth respondent is the development of the e-commerce sector as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of green logistics.

Garo Poland will undergo a dynamic growth in the coming years. Our current recruitment needs are dictated by the extensive development of the production of electric vehicle chargers. We are looking for fitters and electrical fitters. This position requires the ability to read wiring diagrams and use basic tools indicates Joanna Marć in the report, HR Manager at Garo Polska.

According to the employers representing the sector of Renewable Energy Sources in Szczecin, there will be, in the coming year, a noticeable dynamic development of the RES industry. Every second company thinks so. Every fourth respondent draws attention to the need for industrial policies regarding the training of future personnel and (as can be seen from the open responses) the need for more education in the field of foreign languages.

In the RES sector, attention is drawn to the ongoing digitalisation in the energy sector and the growing need for software development and maintenance. There is a need to develop skills at a local level to support the development of the wind sector not only in Poland but also in the neighbouring Baltic countries. The fields of study that are particularly important in this sector include: electrical engineering, mechanics and machine construction, electronics and communication, mechatronics, transport, logistics, production management, production engineering, construction, power engineering, investment and industrial implementation. Our workforce growth plans need to align not only to the skills needed to deliver wind farm construction and servicing projects in Poland, but also to acquire global functions that we will locate in the country, comments Monika Tobisiak, Senior Service Director for Poland, Benelux and South Africa at Vestas.

The attention of employers representing the ICT sector in Szczecin is focused equally on two aspects – the huge demand for software developers and the difficulty in recruiting qualified employees, and the possible outflow of specialists to companies abroad and the increased popularity of remote work.

Customers’ interest in new employees is constantly growing, with the result that the labour market is definitely not keeping up with the needs that companies are reporting. The increase in the need and scale of recruitment is constantly pushing forward. A characteristic feature of the IT industry is the search for engineers who can think logically, are creative and are willing to constantly learn, as new technologies are constantly developing. Some programming languages have been popular for a dozen or so years and will surely remain as a necessary competence, but apart from that, the ability to model reality is becoming very important, because the profession of a software developer is not only creating codes and implementing functions, but also the ability to use other tools – emphasises Artur Perwenis, AVP, Engineering, GlobalLogic.

About the survey

Antal survey entitled “Human capital in Szczecin” was carried out in Szczecin, in December 2021, on a sample of 120 people (employers), using the CAWI method. Antal survey entitled “Higher Studies and First Steps into the Labour Market in Szczecin” was carried out among students of Szczecin universities in December 2021 on a sample of 118 people, using the CAWI method. You can download the report here: https://en.antal.pl/insights/report/Human-capital-and-labour-market-perspectives-in-Szczecin