Warsaw - As Britain prepares to leave
the European Union, the country hoping to win the most jobs from
London's financial centre is not Germany or France, but Poland.
While the likes of Frankfurt and Paris are competing for top
investment bankers after Brexit, Poland has set its sights on
mid-tier financial and technical work where salaries may not be
astronomical but jobs are far more numerous.
Since the country joined the EU in 2004, many Poles have
gone to Britain to work; now the government wants to attract
more jobs currently based in Britain for Poles to do at home.
The Association of Business Service Leaders in Poland is
working on projects with seven big financial firms about
shifting jobs from London, said the Association's managing
director Pawel Panczyj. The focus is on middle office functions
such as risk management and information technology.
"We are talking with banks, insurance institutions and
investment funds who want to move their middle office abroad.
The main factor behind their decision (now) is Brexit," he told
Reuters.
Panczyj's efforts are likely to bear fruit. The regional
head of one global investment bank told Reuters that he
estimates as many as 20 percent of jobs at the lender's London
base could eventually be done in Poland.
Last year's referendum when Britons voted for Brexit has
forced banks and other financial firms to seek new bases for
some operations in a country that will remain in the EU,
allowing them to continue serving clients in the bloc.
They are also under pressure to cut costs as they look at
how to reorganise their operations. In some cases, this includes
work that could still be based in Britain from a regulatory
point of view, but needs to be done more cheaply than is
possible in Europe's dominant financial capital.
Already, post-communist Poland has established itself as a
major offshoring site for banks, with estimates of financial
services jobs moved from all Western countries ranging from
35,000 to 45,000. Credit Suisse and UBS are
among those basing large IT and back office administrative
operations in the country.
Now financial firms are starting to move more sophisticated
work there such as risk management and product development,
taking advantage of a well-educated workforce as well as office
space and wages that are cheaper than in most of Europe.
Goldman Sachs has 500 people working at its office in
Warsaw and is seeking dozens more in areas ranging from risk
modelling to working on the technology for its fixed income
trading systems. It wants candidates with degrees in computer
science or chartered financial analyst (CFA) qualifications,
according to job advertisements.
UBS is looking to hire close to 300 people at its offices in
Krakow and Wroclaw, according to its website.
Hubs of technology
"At the very beginning banks were hiring young people
without [high] qualifications, but now they are becoming hubs of
high technology," said Brunon Bartkiewicz, chief executive of
Dutch-controlled Polish lender ING Bank Slaski.
The growth of high-tech roles reflects the changing make up
of the people who work at investment banks.
The days of trading floors packed with hundreds of
highly-paid dealers are coming to an end, with more of their
market operations being automated. Banks need fewer people in
front-office roles, and more in technology and as well in
compliance and risk management to deal with tighter regulation
since the global financial crisis.
Read also: Brexit already having a negative effect in UK
That means Frankfurt and Paris are battling over a shrinking
pool of front line investment bankers. Officials from the
cities' lobby groups estimate they could each win around 10,000
jobs after Brexit.
By contrast, Poland's government expects to attract around
25 000-30 000 jobs from Britain in the business services sector
just this year, with many of those in finance.
The shift to Poland started well before Britain voted to
leave the EU, but plans to move more jobs have accelerated since
the referendum, recruiters and consultants say.
Talent battle
In central Warsaw BNP Paribas employs 700 people
in the Spire office complex, supporting the French bank's fund
management business. Ryszard Piskorz, who runs BNP Securities
Services there, says the bank is still expanding but needs to
make itself an attractive place to work to fend off competitors
who are also recruiting.
"Poland is an emerging country and in our sector Poland is
coming out as a role expert, maybe even challenging Luxembourg
as a fund industry centre," said Piskorz.
Marta Aserigadu, a recruitment consultant at Experis, part
of Manpower Group, said more well-educated Poles are finding it
appealing to stay in their home country as banks basing
operations there pushes up wages.
"There is no need to leave Poland now. The difference in
salaries concerns only (recent) graduates. But this difference
vanishes very quickly when you take further steps in your
career," she said.
"These people can reach high-level, decisive jobs within
global corporations. Staying at home, with low Polish costs of
living, they can start their international careers. There is no
need to leave to London and live an immigrant's life."
The government is pushing to keep this trend going. The
ruling Law and Justice party has a protectionist stance against
foreign lenders in retail banking, but hosting investment banks'
back and middle office operations brings in jobs and taxes
without any loss of control over its financial system.
"Some time ago Poles were departing to London, but now it is
the other way round," Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki
said in January.