Poznan.pl, oficjalna strona Miasta Poznania

World Values Day falls on 20 October. On that day, in the Business Garden office complex, employees from the business services centres manifested their respect for diversity by creating a large "Together" sign.

- Poznań has always been and will continue to be a city that is friendly to life for everyone and sensitive to the needs of different social groups. Openness, acceptance of diversity, and respect for human rights are values that cannot be forgotten. Respect is due to everyone, regardless of their views, religion, age, gender, level of ability, skin colour, sexual orientation or origin. In the capital of Wielkopolska, we work together with businesses to ensure that diversity is accepted and understood. That is why more and more people, especially young people, are choosing to live and work here - says Bartosz Guss, Deputy Mayor of Poznań.

The modern business services sector employs over 400,000 people in Poland and is one of the most diverse in terms of employees. 93% of operating business service centres employ foreigners. Representatives of five generations work in the sector and the share of women in the total workforce is 53%. The ability to consciously manage diversity, inclusive organisational culture and workplaces created to respect individual differences are essential to maintaining a competitive edge in the international market and attracting foreign investors.

- Diversity and inclusion issues play a particularly important role in our sector and its development, especially in the context of talent acquisition. However, it is worth remembering, when implementing global diversity, inclusion and equality policies, to consider diversity in a broad context, including the social dimension, taking into account a wide range of experiences, including background, where one grew up or access to education. This requires business to be thoughtful and attentive - explains Janusz Dziurzyński, President of ABSL and CEO of BAT Digital Business Solutions Poland.

Multiculturalism is a characteristic of the business services sector in Poland. Employees from abroad account for nearly 14% of the total workforce. They come from 50 countries and provide services in a total of 36 languages, with an average of seven languages used per centre. The age structure is also an important factor in building diversity. The largest group (46%) is made up of people aged 27-34.

The sector is also diverse in terms of gender. More than half of all employees are women. For managerial positions at the team leader level, the proportion of women is 46% and for senior management, it is 39%. This is higher than in other areas of the Polish economy and has remained stable over the past three years.

In Poznań, there are 133 centres from the business services sector, which employ more than 25,000 people. The main category of processes handled in Poznań are the so-called shared services, provided by shared service centres and global business service centres (SSC/GBS), as well as IT services.

BOI/JZ