Home office has also become the new normal in BSCs. (source: Unsplash)
Business service centres (BSCs) and shared service centres (SSCs) have shown flexibility and resistance towards the crisis.
As much as 97 percent of them continued in their activities while keeping high labour productivity during the coronavirus crisis without any significant restrictions. At the same time, up to 84 percent of them have not asked for any state aid.
The sector, which is the third-largest in Slovakia, keeps growing, with the number of employees going up by 3.5 percent compared with the previous year. The labour market in this field remains stable, with onethree in 10 centres planning further recruitment of staff due to their expansion plans in the following months.
On the other hand, one in 10 centres admits they will have to reduce the number of their employees.
This stems from a poll carried out by the Business Service Center Forum (BSCF), running under the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Slovakia, between January 1 and July 31, 2020, among its members.
“Business centres in Slovakia fared well also during the pandemic,” said Gabriel Galgóci, chair of the BSCF, during the annual BSCF conference held on September 24 in Bratislava. “Companies proved their resistance towards negative impacts and the ability to adapt to changed conditions.”
Employers in the BSC and SSC sector still support the flexibility of labour and technology solutions, while it is less required to have a concrete employee present in the workplace. Home office requires less commuting and the reduction of office spaces. The biggest challenge in the coming years will be the availability of talents with high-quality digital skills as well as the automation and robotisation of processes, the poll showed.
