“DB Schenker has currently rented 1,400 sqm in Hermes Business Campus and will gradually increase to 6,000 sqm over the next few years. In the first phase (until) the end of next year DB Schenker plans to hire about 160 employees, the total size of the accounting shared service center will be about 600 accountants,” a DB Schenker spokesperson told ZF.
The DB Schenker service center chose the first building of the Hermes Business Campus developed by Belgium’s Atenor group across the street from the Pipera subway station in northern Bucharest. Construction of the second building thereof has recently begun, with delivery scheduled for early 2016.
As the local team grows, DB Schenker shared service center will move into the second building, considering the first is fully rented already, Atenor said. DB Schenker was assisted by real estate consultant CBRE in the deal with Atenor.
DB Schenker chose Memon Mateen as managing director for the center in Bucharest, an executive who has previously worked for Hewlett-Packard, Wipro and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
DB Schenker is looking for employees with accounting experience and a variety of language skills, because salary costs in Romania are three to five times lower than in Germany.
“The recruitment process has already started. We are planning to integrate the staff quickly into the DB world and culture and grow them as a team. The focus also lies in training them in our processes and procedures for the tasks and responsibilities in the shared service center. We are currently searching for employees with accounting experience and a variety of language skills.”
The company conducted an evaluation of the major cities in the region at the beginning of this year and eventually chose Bucharest for its shared service center. Deutsche Bahn operates via DB Schenker Logistics in Romania, a company that posted more than EUR94 million revenue and had more than 1,000 employees last year.
“The location Bucharest was chosen carefully based on a range of evaluation criteria: a stable economy with GDP growth above EU average, attractive destination for Business Process Outsourcings and SSCs and well-educated employees – in finance and with competitive language skills,” DB Schenker official said.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)