Scania to open new BSC in Poland. But where: Gdansk or Lodz?

Scania, a Swedish manufacturer of trucks and buses, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group, is considering opening a service center in Poland.

– The company checked Wrocław, Łódź and Gdańsk. Gdańsk turned out to be the most interesting location for it due to the shortest distance to Sweden. Apart from Poland, it also considered Portugal, but there are many indications that it will open a center in Gdańsk. At first, it will employ 150-250 people and will provide HR and financial and accounting services – claims XYZ's source.

Another person adds that in the future, the company will add IT services. – The process is ongoing, but other countries are also being considered outside Poland – claims another interviewee. The Scania press office did not respond to XYZ's questions about the plans.

If the company opened a center in Poland, it would somewhat balance out the recent layoffs. Back in 2023, it announced that it would close the bus factory in Słupsk, which employs 847 people, at the beginning of 2024. 

- The automotive industry is going through a difficult moment, but it is going through a period of transformation. That is why many outsourcing projects, competence centers or shared services are emerging. The question is whether these companies will open their own centers or outsource their processes to companies providing BPO services, such as Capgemini or Accenture – says Jacek Levernes, honorary president of the industry organization ABSL, senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group, member of the supervisory board of Agora and non-executive director at Skanska Commercial Development Europe.

As evidence of this thesis, he cites the development of the Krakow service center of Mercedes, a German manufacturer of automotive parts.

– Indeed, the turmoil in the world is an opportunity for the service sector in Poland. We are trying to acquire companies that are undergoing transformation. We convince them that in Poland, the sector employs over 450,000 people, and in Pomerania alone 40,000 – says Wojciech Tyborowski, director of Invest in Pomerania, which attracts investors to Pomerania.

Of the automotive companies operating in Pomerania, Northvolt and previously Scania have announced reductions so far. Invest in Pomerania is participating in support for employees laid off from the Scania factory in Słupsk. – There were no major problems, although some people are still looking for new jobs – says Wojciech Tyborowski. IT is slowing down because the sector was overheated According to him, the situation of business service centers located in Poland depends on the market in which they operate.

– If it is stable, even IT service providers do not feel the turmoil. Intel's global challenges have had an impact on the Gdańsk office. Apart from Intel, there are no layoffs in service centers on our market. Although Northvolt is selling the factory in Gdańsk, its business scaling center, which employs 64 people, is staying. It may not be growing because the company is shrinking, but it is not being closed – says Wojciech Tyborowski.

On the other hand, the slowdown in IT is not only bad news. – The slowdown in IT came after a period of extremely dynamic growth, there was already a shortage of specialists. Now the situation has stabilized, although this is related to optimizations in some companies – says Jacek Levernes.

Amazon Web Services in the Tri-City was already laying off in 2023, this summer 200 people were laid off in the Krakow center of Aptiv (a manufacturer of parts and IT systems for the automotive industry), and in October Intel reported to the Labor Office in Gdańsk that it intends to carry out group layoffs.

- As part of the wide-ranging savings plan announced in August, we are making difficult but necessary decisions regarding employment reductions, treating our staff with care and respect. These are the most difficult decisions we have ever faced. These changes are aimed at building a simpler, better adapted and optimized organization and are part of Intel's long-term sustainable development strategy - says Aleksandra Bojanowska, Intel spokeswoman.