The first year of students of the new course "Global Business Services" (GBS) started education at the Krakow University of Economics. GBS is a pioneering course in Poland, which was created from scratch by business and science as an answer to the continuous development of the business services sector.
Among the partners of the direction, apart from ABSL, there are 28 leading entities of the sector, the City of Kraków and local startups. The inauguration was attended by the Deputy Mayor of Kraków for Sustainable Development, Jerzy Muzyk.
GBS was created in cooperation with the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL). It is the first undergraduate course that will prepare students for international career development in business centres belonging to the largest companies in the world. This is particularly important given that the business services sector currently employs over 350,000 people, in over 1.6 thousand service centres.
- Kraków is consistently at the top of the Tholons 100 Super Cities Ranking. At the same time, in 2020, it took the 10th place in the ranking of cities of the future, which means that there is also a future here for those who are just starting their professional adventure - said Jerzy Muzyk, Deputy Mayor for Sustainable Development, during the inauguration ceremony.
- The GBS degree programme was created in cooperation with representatives of global companies, who were involved in the selection of educational content. Students, starting from the first year, will have classes and internships in service centres, which will give them access to leaders of international corporations during the entire period of study. Potential workplaces for future GBS graduates are in the business services sector, which includes: IT, finance, accounting, logistics, human resources management and research and development activities - emphasized Stanislaw Mazur, Ph.
Adjusting the education system to the market needs
The ABSL Strategic Foresight analyses show that the total employment in the sector may increase up to 650 thousand within 10 years, which means that it will be necessary to gain nearly 300 thousand workers possessing the so-called competences of the future. From the sector's perspective the key competences are connected with finance, data analysis, modern technologies, as well as universal soft skills such as: team work, change management, ability to cooperate in an international business environment.
Kraków in the world's lead
Kraków is the leader in terms of employment in business service centres in Poland, where almost every fourth person employed in the sector works, i.e. over 77 thousand people. The capital of the Małopolska Region is at the forefront of global rankings determining the attractiveness of cities most frequently chosen by international investors.
System solutions necessary to provide human resources
According to the ABSL annual report, taking into account the demographic situation, the limited pool of qualified staff may become one of the most significant barriers to the inflow of foreign direct investment and the development of processes based on advanced knowledge. It seems therefore necessary to introduce systemic solutions, including the expansion of the human resources base with the necessary skills.
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