The seventh annual edition of Lithuania’s GBS & ICT Report provides a detailed overview of growth, activities and talent across the industry in 2020 – together with a confident assessment by companies of prospects for the year ahead.
The GBS & ICT Report 2021 was launched a special online event featuring keynote speaker Linda Aiello of Salesforce. As in previous years, the report is based on a survey of companies in the industry, carried out by Invest Lithuania at the beginning of 2021. A total of 68% of all Lithuania-based centres completed the questionnaire, representing 74% of the industry’s total labour force.
Welcoming the findings of Lithuania’s GBS & ICT Report 2021, Aušrinė Armonaitė, the Minister of Economy and Innovations said: “Despite a difficult year worldwide, Lithuania’s GBS & ICT has demonstrated its remarkable resilience – harnessing its skills in technology to adapt flexibly to the changing circumstances and even achieve growth, both in terms of the number of new investors and the number of people employed in the sector. Lithuania’s expertise in areas such as IT and financial services, including AML, coupled with rapid developments in emerging areas such as automation and AI, provide a strong base for further growth in the coming years.”
The main findings of the report were presented live to the international business community. Reflecting the changing nature of the modern workplace, the launch event titled “Workplace. Re-loaded” focused on the latest trends in workplace transformation. Adding to the discussion on how the world will be working in the future, Linda Aiello, VP for Employee Success at Salesforce, talked about the latest developments in this field and the experience Salesforce had at preparing for their return to the office.
“The way we live and work has changed dramatically – and we won’t be going back to the ways things were,” said Ms. Aiello. “By harnessing technology and the new tools that are becoming available, we have an opportunity to create a workspace and an employee experience that makes us even more connected, healthy, innovative and productive. That’s what I’m seeing in Lithuania’s Business services & ICT industry right now as well. With strong teams, a human-centric approach and high level of digitization, it’s flexing forward to a new, better way of working.”
Steady growth and resilienceThe GBS centres polled identified Lithuania’s Top 5 advantages: the availability of well-educated talent; the availability of multilingual talent; well-developed IT and telecommunications infrastructure; competitive labour costs; and lastly, Lithuania’s stable political and economic environment – a key factor in the light of the difficulties experienced by many countries due to COVID-19.
Despite the global challenge of the pandemic, Lithuania’s GBS & ICT industry enjoyed steady, sustainable growth in 2020 – both in terms of the number of companies joining the sector, and the specialists employed. By the end of 2020, 85 foreign companies were operating business services centres across Lithuania, including 11 Fortune 500 investors such as McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, IBM and Oracle.
The year also saw some significant new entrants to Lithuania’s GBS sector, including Dexcom, EPAM, Itransition, MUFG Investor Services FinTech Limited and Rocket Software. Equally important, however, were the expansion plans announced by existing members of the GBS community such as Intrum, Nasdaq and Norian. In line with global trends, these include the addition of new, advanced functions such as R&D, AI, robotic process automation (RPA) and supply chain management (SCM).
In 2020, Lithuania’s GBS & ICT sector employed 20,170 specialists, a rise of 4.5% compared with the previous year – an impressive achievement, given the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economic situation. Based on survey data and taking potential newcomers into account, Lithuania’s GBS & ICT workforce is expected to reach almost 23,000 employees by the end of 2021.
Unsaturated and diverse communityIn total, 40% of companies operating GBS & ICT centres in Lithuania are headquartered in the United States, and account for more than a third of total employment in the sector. The Nordics countries remain one of the most important regions for FDI attraction – comprising a third of all GBS & ICT centres in Lithuania, and employing more than 50% of the industry’s workforce. Tech is the leading specialisation, 41% of all business services centres in Lithuania belong to the Information Technology & Services category. Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, remains the country’s most popular destination for GBS, with all of 2020’s new centres landing in the city.
Despite strong growth, Lithuania remains one of the least saturated GBS & ICT locations in Europe. Just 30.5 per 1,000 residents in Vilnius are employed in business services centres, compared with 77.5 in Dublin and 99.7 in Krakow. This low saturation results in ease of recruitment of highly skilled talent, as well as lower growth in salaries and a lower attrition rate – making Lithuania an increasingly attractive destination for companies seeking to grow their operations.
IT remains the leading function in Lithuania’s GBS centres and will continue to grow, with 37% of centres planning to introduce or expand their IT function. In particular, Cloud Operations saw a rise of 17pp compared with the previous year, while Data Science / Big Data Analytics was up 6pp. Finance and Accounting is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, with 28% of respondents planning to start delivering financial services. Business Controlling saw the biggest rise in F&A, up 17pp on the previous year, while Travel & Expenses saw a rise of 12pp. Meanwhile, the rise of automation and digitalisation in Lithuania’s business services centres has further increased the importance of key competences such as engineering – and continuing threats to data will only increase the importance of cybersecurity.
Lithuania’s GBS & ICT sector also continues to lead the way on diversity and inclusion. With a labour force that is 51% female, Lithuania remains number 1 in the EU for the highest share of women in the workforce – an impressive figure, but one that is exceeded in the country’s GBS & ICT sector, where 52% of the workforce is female. Women can be found at all levels of organisations in the sector, representing 48% of senior management, and 42% of all GBS centre leaders.
Lithuania’s GBS & ICT Report 2021 is free to download. To obtain your copy click here.

Robert Bosch Automotive Steering in Maklár is launching three projects: a) the production of new-generation electric power steering gears replacing hydraulic steering gears, b) expansion of production capacity, and c) setting up a global service centre. The 3 investments will create a total of 180 new jobs, with a total volume of more than EUR 148 million.
Robert Bosch Automotive Steering Kft. supplies steering gears for passenger cars, steering columns for commercial vehicles, and steering shafts and refurbished components to more than 100 vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Established in 2003, the company has been producing conventional, hydraulic steering gears in Eger, and electric power steering gears and steering systems for trucks in Maklár since 2014. Production of the main components for the electric power steering gear began in 2015 at the plant in Maklár. More than three million steering systems and their components are delivered from the two sites each year, most of them being state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly electric power steering systems (EPS).
The company broadens the portfolio of the Bosch Group with its cutting-edge, fuel-saving electric power steering gears and makes systems that form the basis of driver assistants, electric and automated vehicles.
In the framework of the projects, the company will develop a total 70,000-square-metre production and logistics area, as well as an integrated, modern service centre and office space in Maklár. The factory will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology by the end of 2023, establishing and expanding production, logistics and service buildings, and installing new machinery. With the capacity increasing investment, the competitiveness of the Maklár site will be raised and high-tech production, assembly and measuring equipment will be procured.
In addition to manufacturing, the Automotive Steering division of the Bosch Group started the establishment of a new Shared Service Centre (SSC) in Maklár. In the future, the Automotive Steering division of the Bosch Group will be supported from the service centre worldwide; according to the plans it will support sales, quality assurance, technical development, strategic planning, data protection and product management.

Global Upside – the leading provider of incorporation, global PEO/EOR, accounting, HR, payroll and compliance services in 170+ countries – has announced a new office opening in Warsaw, Poland alongside plans to establish new offices in China, Japan, Colombia and Mexico.

The new office in Warsaw will expand the company’s European presence and will support Clients operating in Eastern Europe. Global Upside also plans to open new offices in China and Japan to supplement several India- and Australia-based offices servicing the APAC region in the next 90 days. LATAM expansion on the horizon includes Colombia- and Mexico-based offices to bolster client service delivery in the region.
Global Upside will have nearly 30 offices spread across 14 countries. The company has opened offices in 5 countries in the last year alone. Global Upside is looking to increase staff by at least 50% across all offices in the coming 12 months.
The company is in its 13th consecutive year of revenue growth, solidifying its position as an industry leader and underscoring the importance of back-office solutions for companies looking to cross borders.
Global Upside’s Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Ragu Bhargava shares, “Over the past 22 years, we have developed strong expertise, operations and local networks across the world. As we continue to experience significant growth, we are investing in our company and our worldwide employee base to support our clients globally and locally. The new Poland office will help us service the Eastern Europe in real time.”
Driving Global Upside’s continued success is the company’s relentless focus on Client satisfaction. Global Upside is a catalyst for companies to scale and accelerate their growth, providing a 360-degree solution to companies as they grow at home and overseas through a mix of professional services and technology.
Today, Global Upside supports Clients in 170+ countries and has pioneered an industry-first Global Human Capital Management (HCM) technology that significantly reduces compliance risks for global employers. Whether companies are making their first venture into international markets or looking to continue the growth of their international enterprise, Global Upside provides options to keep them compliant every step of the way.

About Global Upside – Making Growth Happen. Any Industry. Any Location.
Services to Simplify Business Expansion.
Global Upside supports companies throughout the business lifecycle, offering incorporation, PEO/Employer of Record, accounting, HR, payroll, compliance, and M&A services. For over two decades, we have provided integrated expansion solutions in 170+ countries. Whether you are expanding your existing domestic enterprise or making your first venture into international markets, Global Upside’s services simplify your day-to-day operations so you can free up time and resources to focus on growth.
Learn more at www.globalupside.com.

ContactsRitu Bhargava
408-913-9130
Ritu.bhargava@globalupside.com

This new initiative of the Hungarian Outsourcing Association, led by Monika Slomska, aims to provide additional trainings and workshops for the SSC sector in Hungary.
More details will be announced in late summer.

On 7th June, EY launched the annual “EY Attractiveness Survey Europe”, which analyses investment data and gathers the opinions of investors. The Investment and Development Agency of Latvia (LIAA) was interviewed during the study about the investment results in Latvia. The study reveals that Latvia attracted 43 new investment projects – a 79% increase compared to the previous year.
The number of new foreign investment projects per one million inhabitants ranks Latvia fourth among the European countries, right behind Monaco, Ireland and Luxembourg, while Lithuania is in the sixth position, and Estonia – in the fifteenth. In terms of the number of newly created jobs per one million inhabitants, Latvia remains fifth – after Belgium, Lithuania, France and Ireland. These new projects have created 2,583 new jobs, 69% more than a year before.
"For Latvia, this is an excellent achievement because the number of new investment projects in Europe has decreased by 13%. Lithuania is also performing very well, with 53 new investment projects launched last year, which is only slightly less than a year before, when it had 60 projects. For Estonia, the previous year was not the best one in terms of investments, as the number of new investment projects experienced a 59% drop. When we compare the performance of the Baltic States, it is interesting to note that the specialization of the countries is emerging – Latvia has a lot of new investments in production, 20 altogether, while Lithuania has more investment projects in R&D – 19 altogether. Other investment sectors are quite similar in both countries,” says Guntars Krols, EY Partner, Head of Strategy and Business Consulting in the Baltics.
The EY study shows that 68% of investors who already have a presence in the Baltics plan to expand this year. In this respect, the differences between the Baltic States are minor - 69% of investors in Latvia, 71% in Lithuania and 64% in Estonia have such plans.
In the Baltics, 62% of investors believe that future growth in attracting investment will be driven by the digital economy, namely the IT, telecommunications and media, followed by the mobility sector, which 37% of investors consider to be significant. Another 28% believe that investment will be successful in consumer industries, including food production and agriculture.
"Our study confirms that most investors in the Baltics are already planning their digital transformation programs. 56% have indicated this, but another 17% are already implementing the programs or have recently completed them. In Latvia, 68% of foreign investors plan the digital transformation, and the vast majority of foreign investors indicate that the digital skills available in the country are important or at least moderately important for the investment plans – nine out of ten investors in Latvia agree,” admits Guntars Krols.
"The EY Attractiveness Survey Europe" is conducted annually, gathering quantitative data on investment projects, monitoring more than 10,000 news sources, and surveying 550 international investment decision-makers and 150 investors with a presence in the Baltics.
Source: db.lv; liaa.gov.lv

The Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia (NCCL) says Norwegian investors continue to see opportunities in Latvian real estate, manufacturing and business service industries. Over the past two weeks, three of the biggest Norwegian investors and job-creators in Latvia – Linstow Baltic, Orkla Latvija and Norwegian have announced their plans for the months and years to come.
Linstow Baltic (LB) recently announced its acquisition of the “Sporta 2 quarter” and plans to develop it into a "multifunctional and liveable urban quarter, combing modern contemporary design and functions with some of the authentic qualities of the area." 

The development will focus on creating office infrastructure, but will also include retail, service and residential space as well as premises for public and corporate events, restaurants and cafes, according to Linstow Baltic.
“The company intends to build out Sporta iela 2 as a mixed-use urban development project over the years to come in what the company considers as one of the most prospective areas in downtown Riga. This acquisition demonstrates Linstow Baltic’s long-term commitment to enhancing our presence in Latvia further and follows our strategy to develop a diversified real estate portfolio,” said Chairman of the Board of Linstow Baltic Frode Grønvold.
Earlier this month Orkla Biscuit Production, part of the Orkla investments in Latvia, held a ridgepole celebration marking the final stage of the construction process of its brand new biscuit and wafer factory in Ādaži with a floor space of more than 30,000 m2. The project is expected to be completed in 2022, creating "at least 250 new jobs", according to the company.
According to Orkla, the new plant will be the largest such plant in the Baltic countries and Scandinavia. After the completion of the project, Orkla will have seven production plants in Latvia, three of them located in Ādaži. It is expected that 75% of the plant’s output will be exported.
“Construction of the new biscuit and wafer factory in Latvia is Orkla group’s acknowledgement of our skills, at the same time, it is the largest group’s investment project of the past years,” said SIA Orkla Biscuit Production and SIA Orkla Latvija board chairman Toms Didrihsons.
Business Services
Low-cost airline Norwegian, representing the industry that arguably has been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic has also pledged to continue setting up operations in Latvia, according to the NCCL.

“Finally, after a turbulent year, Norwegian is back! And so are our people and our customers as the world is gradually going back to normal. This year we inaugurated our new Business Centre in Latvia with approximately 100 dedicated employees ready to help our customers with their next travel with Norwegian,” said Knut Olav Høeg, Executive Vice President IT and Business Services at “Norwegian”.
Norwegian announced plans of creating a shared service centre in Riga last September and has been building its team on the ground, creating new job opportunities at their office in Jaunā Teika. Norwegian has connected Norway and Latvia since 2005 and said they would re-launch departures between Oslo and Riga "within a short period" without giving a specific date.
According to Lursoft, Norway is the eighth-largest foreign investor in Latvia with an investment portfolio exceeding 350 million euros.
According to a Norwegian Investor Sentiment Index conducted by the NCCL in 2020, 45% of current Norwegian investors in Latvia plan to increase their investments in the future, whereas 34% stated that at the point of taking the survey they had not decided on further investment plans yet.
According to the same survey, the most commonly cited factors that would positively affect Norwegian investors’ decision regarding further investments in Latvia would be the improvement of the overall market situation, a more predictable and simpler tax system, and the availability of skilled labour. Some of the factors that would negatively impact further Norwegian investments in Latvia would be increased tax burden, grey economy and corruption, shortage of skilled labour and increased production costs, according to the NCCL survey.