Business outsourcing services industry in RO hits EUR 4.5 bln in 2018

The business outsourcing services industry has been one of the most dynamic in Romania, in recent years, reaching revenues of over EUR 4.5 billion in 2018, up 12.5% from EUR 4 billion in 2017, according to estimates of the Business Services Leaders Association in Romania (ABSL).

Some 280 companies and 131,000 employees are active in this field, accounting for 2.4% of the total employees in the Romanian economy, up from 1.5% in 2017.

The number of employees will increase by 9.6% next year and the most wanted qualifications for employment in the industry are foreign languages (55%), along with technical / IT skills (18%), IT (9%), financial knowledge (3%), and different other skills (soft skills, project management - 15%).

The entry-level salaries offered in the business services industry are 30% higher compared to the minimum wage in the economy, for the employees with higher education.

About 45% of the companies in the industry are SSCs (Shared Service Centers - companies that concentrate certain activities in a group of companies such as IT, accounting, procurement, etc. in an entity specialized in such shared services) while 44% are BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing - companies specialized in providing services to external clients).

Most companies operating in this industry come from France, Germany, Romania and the US.

The main services they provide are IT (34%), financial and accounting services (28%), customer operations (26%), HR (21%), procurement (19%), project management (18%), business transformation (16%), and document management (15%).

(Photo: Andrey Popov/ Dreamstime)