The training offered by BPO Education Center and the Job Office was terminated on Friday, 30 September 2016. Due to the collaboration of those two agencies based at Olivia Business Centre, 14 people were employed as junior accountants. The all had changed their previous professions. Another edition of the training will commence at the beginning of November 2016.
The free-of-charge Corporate Accounting training, financed by the Gdańsk Labour Office, started in mid-June 2016. Run by BPO Education Center at the Sopot University of Applied Science, the course was divided into a didactic part and a practical part in the form of placements at the shared service centres of Bayer Service Center Gdańsk and thyssenkrupp Group Services Gdańsk, located at Olivia Business Centre.
The fifteen people selected during the enrolment at the Gdańsk Labour Office had 240 hours of theoretical classes and learned accounting as well as the structure and procedures of BPO/SSC companies (shared services), financing and accounting systems (SAP ERP) and advanced use of spreadsheets. Further, the training attendees participated in as many as 60 hours of a German course. A good command of the language, in particular accounting-related vocabulary, was a prerequisite for the successful completion of the training. There was an exam at the end of each course included in the training.
After two months of study, the course participants began 320-hour placements with Residents of Olivia Business Centre: Bayer SCG and thyssenkrupp GSG. All the attendees received course completion certificates on September 30th and on October 3rd they started working with the above-mentioned companies, which had been involved in the training process from its beginning.
BPO Education Center is an entity of the Sopot University of Applied Science, which has been helping the inhabitants of the region gain competence and skills required at financial service centres for over 3 years. With measurable effects, as so far 90% of the graduates of the Corporate Accounting course found jobs immediately after its completion, said Sylwia Broda, the Sopot University of Applied Science. The subsequent, ninth flight of the project differs from the other ones in that several entities residing at Olivia Business Centre have cooperated so successfully for the first time, thus presenting a new image of “good neighbourly practices”. For the most ambitious participants, the training will be the starting point for their career development. We have already heard from some graduates that they would like to continue studying at our university, at prestigious postgraduate courses in ACCA Finance and Accounting (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
Every employer based in Gdańsk or the Gdańsk County may report its demand for employees for specific jobs to the Gdańsk Labour Office. If searches for people with the specified job profile are futile, the Labour Office may organise training provided there is an employment guarantee under trilateral agreements. Such projects are aimed at job seekers changing their professions studied, said Anna Hryniewicz, the Job Office. The finished training was prepared for the purposes of Bayer and thyssenkrupp, which had looked for employees for the jobs of junior accountants. With the branch of the Gdańsk Labour Office at Olivia Business Centre, i.e. the Job Office, companies may report their requirements in a simple manner.
We are very happy that thanks to the decisions made several years age we are able to establish better and better conditions at Olivia Business Centre for our Residents to carry out recruitment, said Agnieszka Zglinicka, the Project Manager at Olivia Business Centre. The presence in one place of large, international enterprises, HR companies and the Job Office and Talent Development Centre – which are branches of the Gdańsk Labour Office opened this year – brings about the desired effect. We believe activities aimed at extending the talent pool and creating new jobs will be appreciated not only by global companies but also by the enterprises and inhabitants of the region.
Another edition of the training will commence at the beginning of November 2016. For more information on the training, visit the website of the Sopot University of Applied Science: http://www.ssw-sopot.pl/bpo/
From the very beginning, Olivia Business Centre in Gdańsk Oliwa held multi-functionality as its key objective, including recruitment support for its Residents. At present, there is a total of 10 (commercial and local-government) entities at the centre, whose core operations are Human Resources.
The team of Olivia Business Centre also provides for the work-life balance of all those who work at the centre: business, education, cultural and sport events are held on a regular basis. A modern, two-storey, 24/7 fitness club, CityFit, was opened in April 2016. All the visitors of the centre may already use e.g. 3 conference centres, a healthcare centre with a pharmacy, 3 restaurants, 2 cafés, a kindergarten and nursery, 4 banks, a modern junior high school, beauty salon, notary public and electric vehicle charging point. There are nearly 2000 parking spaces, over 200 bicycle racks and 5 changing rooms with showers beside Olivia Business Centre.
Over 100 entities operate at Olivia Business Centre. They include global corporations, SMEs, start-ups as well as self-government and non-governmental organisations. Residents of Olivia Business Centre include Allianz, Alior Bank, Amazon, Bayer, Energa, Epam, Generali, Hays, Medicover, Noble Bank, PKO Bank Polski, PwC, Sii, T-Mobile, thyssenkrupp, as well as Agencja Rozwoju Pomorza (Pomerania Development Agency), Regionalna Izba Gospodarcza Pomorza (Pomeranian Regional Chamber of Commerce), PZP Lewiatan (Pomeranian Employers’ Association Lewiatan) and BPO Education Center.
The Centre has been extended systematically since 2010, one building a year. The foundation stone for a skyscraper, Olivia Star, was laid ceremoniously in June 2016. It will be the highest building in northern Poland and one of the ten highest buildings in the country.
