British Telecom (BT) has come to a milestone as the number of employees at one of the world’s largest telecom services providers reached one thousand in Hungary and the company is planning to continue hiring, the enterprise announced at a press conference in Budapest.
In Budapest, at the regional services headquarters of BT, a company active in 170 countries all over the world, 150-200 highly qualified young employees are expected to start working over the next twelve months. Professionals working in BT offices in Budapest and Debrecen provide services for more than three thousand international clients -- among them the world’s leading multinational companies – in the field of client management, financial and business administration.
At the press conference, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said that BT has been adding to labour force in the services sector, one of the priority sectors of the Hungarian economy. International corporations operate some 180 service centres in Hungary and employ some 30 thousand people.
As the Minister stressed, the effort of the company to boost production of added value as much as possible in Hungary and increase the number of highly skilled employees fits well into the Government’s economic policy and labour market objectives.
He pointed out that according to the joint study by PwC and AmCham the history of services centres in Hungary is an untold success story, which has not gained sufficient publicity.
For foreign investors, the Minister stated, the predictability of a country’s economic policy is a key factor for making long-term decisions. In Hungary, the main task is no longer crisis management but how to underpin balanced growth, continue with prudent fiscal policy, decrease debt and boost growth.
President of Global Customer Service Operations Rogier Bronsgeest said that the European hub established almost ten years ago has by now become a key strategic basis for the company’s international operations. “Hungary has been an excellent business location for us, as it has provided highly qualified, multilingual, innovative labour force,” he pointed out.
The Ambassador of Great Britain in Hungary HE Jonathan Knott said that within the European Union they see the largest unused potential in the Hungarian-British trade relations. In order to improve this situation, networking programmes are about to be launched which aim to bring together SMEs and help the exchange of inform about business opportunities in Hungary. He emphasised that international British enterprises are also being encouraged to come and invest in Hungary. One of the best examples they can present for British companies, he added, was the successful Hungarian operation of BT. In the European Customer Service Centre, 93 percent of employees are Hungarian, more than 85 percent have higher education attainment, their average age is below 30 percent and they have advanced level knowledge of at least two languages.
(Ministry for National Economy)
