3035 new jobs and 14 investment projects in Pomerania! It was a good year for the region, the best in 7 years – so Invest in Pomerania sums up 2017. As a result, Pomerania ranked fourth among the most dynamically developing regions of Europe according to the Milken Institute. One of the evaluation criteria was the total increase in the number of jobs in the last 7 years. In this respect, the region ranked second among the examined regions.
– Since 2011, the Invest in Pomerania team has handled 805 investor inquiries, which resulted in 83 completed projects. However, it was 2017 that was record-breaking in terms of new jobs and investments in the manufacturing sectors – summarizes Wojciech Tyborowski, director of Invest in Pomerania – a non-profit initiative that offers comprehensive services for foreign investments.
What does this mean for the Pomerania Region?
Over the last seven years unemployment has fallen from 13.2% to 5.5% and is currently 1% lower than the general unemployment rate in Poland. Pomerania Region also recorded the second highest increase in the number of employees in the country – in the second quarter of 2017 it amounted to 23.8% (compared to the whole country: 5.7%). Currently, the number of employees is almost three hundred thousand higher than in 2011.
The residents confirm the ease of employment in Gdansk. In the latest study of Kantar Millward Brown, more than a half of the 803 Gdańsk residents surveyed confirm that finding a job in this city is easy or very easy.
The growing market creates further demand for employees, not only in the IT industry, but also in manufacturing. That is why we have launched the campaign “Live more. Pomerania” which main goal is comprehensive promotion of the region among potential employees from outside the region, which will be continued in the next years – says Marcin Grzegory, deputy director of Invest in Pomerania. Year to year, the Tri-City is fed by more and more visitors from Poland and abroad attracted by the absorptive labour market..
Along with the development of the business, the status of Pomeranian cities is also growing. Both Gdańsk and Gdynia received the smart city certificate (ISO 37120) in 2017. Gdańsk has also been placed on the prestigious list of “European Best Destinations” and ranked among the top of the Premium Brands ranking.
What’s going on in the manufacturing ?
The year 2017 is definitely a breakthrough for Invest in Pomerania when it comes to the industrial sector. Thanks to the expansion of already existing plants ofsuch companies as Flex, Jabil or Lacroix, over 1600 jobs have been created. The first company expands its production facility by the fourth hall, the number of vacancies of the second company will increase by thousand, and the third – by 200. In turn, Control Solutions has opened its plant in Banino. There’s also research and development. A good example here is Ultrafog – a Swedish manufacturer of fire protection systems for the maritime sector, which is building a production plant, will also invest into a research and testing facility, the second of its kind in Europe.
Development of Business Services Sector
Inhabitants of the Pomerania Region have more and more positions to choose from. 1430 jobs generated by the BSS sector are an opportunity to work for recognizable brands such as Austrian Swarovski or Japanese Ricoh. Investments in this sector are mainly shared service centres and research and development facilities (In4mo and Benetel).
The new investment in the sector is also next branch of the salmon processing giant, Marine Harvest. This is the third branch of this company in Pomerania – in addition to the factory in Ustka and offices in Sopot. Similarly, Arrow Electronics opened its second office in our region. The Business Services Sector is the fastest growing branch of Pomeranian business.
Highly qualified specialists are the driving force behind this development. The key challenge-factor here is to continue the adaptation of the education programs to the current market requirements. Therefore, Invest in Pomerania is making efforts to bring education and business closer together. An example might be the pilot program “Practice Your Future” – a project in which representatives of Pomeranian companies conducted a series of lectures to future graduates of Gdańsk University of Technology.
Plans for 2018
In the coming year, Invest in Pomerania wants to take particular care of the further development of the manufacturing sectors. The new support system for production and logistics will involve investment incentives for SMEs and preparation of industrial parks. Invest in Pomerania also assumes urther development of the Business Services Sector along with the always growing office space market in the Tri-City. It is to reach 1 million sq. m by 2020. We are entering the year 2018 with three companies that have already made investment decisions. We will probably announce these projects in the first half of the year. We are also talking with several other companies. – reveals Anna Rajzer from Invest in Pomerania.
Contact:
Wojciech Tyborowski
e-mail: wojciech.tyborowski@investinpomerania.pl
mobile: +48 603 872 123
