Swiss IT consultancy invests over €1.5 million in Portuguese talent
With 30 employees in Portugal, Zühlke aims to reach 60 by the end of the year. Over the next five years, the Swiss consultancy plans to invest more than €1.5 million in the Portuguese market.
Zühlke is determined to grow its operation in Portugal and, by the end of the year, wants to double the number of employees at the Swiss IT consultancy’s hub in Porto from 30 to 60. During the next five years, the tech company plans to invest over €1.5 million in the Portuguese market.
“We want, by the end of 2022, to double our team with diversified profiles essential to the entire software engineering chain, reinforcing the central role that the Portugal hub represents for our solutions worldwide,” adds Mariana Salvaterra, Zühlke’s general manager in Portugal.
Since last year, Portugal has joined Zühlke’s network of engineering hubs in Serbia and Bulgaria, as well as the IT consulting firm’s 15 offices in seven other countries in Europe and Asia. In Porto, where the company’s third technology hub is located, a multicultural team is now growing and linking up with specialists in other Zühlke hubs.
The focus is on hiring senior specialists with experience in their field and who will contribute to raising the potential of the solutions the company develops. Right now, the open positions are for embedded systems and software engineering, with a focus on specialists with experience in Java and .NET, React and Angular.
“In addition to these, we always have our doors open for all specialists who want to come and accelerate their career with a company with the know-how that Zühlke has. We continue to monitor trends in the sectors in which we operate to ensure that we create the most innovative answers in line with customer needs,” stresses Mariana Salvaterra.
The team in Porto is made up of around 30 specialists, of which, besides Portuguese employees, 25% are foreign professionals. “We have some team members who came from abroad to join us and transform the world technology. In fact, the reallocation of talent is something we support whenever necessary and we are present throughout the process to facilitate the coming of specialists to our hub,” explains the company’s general manager.
During the next five years, the technology company plans to invest over €1.5 million in the Portuguese market. The focus is on hiring new talent and creating relevant partnerships to boost Zühlke among junior and senior candidates.
“At the same time, we invest in salary and benefits packages that meet the specific needs of each employee, improving their work-life balance. Training is also a priority area for investment, so that we can prepare the team to meet the challenges of the market and enhance our specialists’ development. Meanwhile, the process is also underway to improve the facilities where the team works, in order to accommodate the growth we want for Porto,” explains Mariana Salvaterra.
The benefits package also includes more flexible work options, with a hybrid regime and time management in a bank of hours; more frequent feedback processes; and career plans aligned with the company’s evolution perspectives. “We always look at the specific case of each employee, the benefits they value most and what they are looking for in their career, being able to flexibly adjust their workload up to 80%, or four days a week,” she highlights.
Porto: “privileged” access to talent and a “bubbling” ecosystem
Porto was chosen mainly because of its access to talent and its own promising ecosystem. “The city responds very positively to decisive factors for our activity, where we highlight the privileged access to talent, which completes studies in specialized academies and rigorous universities. At the same time, the opening of hubs by other technological giants has been transforming the Invicta city into a bubbling ecosystem that reinforces the spirit of innovation ideal for getting business off the ground in Portugal,” explains Zühlke’s general manager in Portugal.
From this hub projects are developed for clients abroad, so the work developed on Portuguese soil has an important impact on a global level. “The expectation is to make this hub a contact point of relevance to develop business for the whole world.”
For now, the company’s mission is to strengthen the office and team in Porto: “We want to create a centre of relevance and with strategic positioning for the evolution of Zühlke in Portugal and the group, so the priority is to grow this hub.” Even so, and in line with the group’s international expansion and growth objectives, “we will aim to extend recruitment to other parts of the country.”
