Wroclaw is a leader in the IT sector. How is it going to develop? The latest data

- Wroclaw, one of the fastest developing cities in Poland, is becoming a leader in the IT sector. According to the latest data from ABSL and Capgemini, Wroclaw has the highest level of local specialisation in IT services within the BPO sector (an acronym for Business Process Outsourcing - it consists in outsourcing tasks related to business operations), among the largest cities in the country, ahead of Warsaw and Krakow.

IT sector in Wroclaw. Key data

In many Polish cities, the IT sector has become an important pillar of the local economy, and its growing importance is confirmed by the location quotient (LQ). This indicator measures how developed a particular sector is in a given city compared to the national average.

Wroclaw is a city for which the IT sector is a so-called local specialisation. This is based on the location quotient (LQ), which compares employment in the sector in a given location with the total number of employees and refers to the average value for all locations in Poland. According to ABSL data, Wroclaw has the fourth highest LQ in Poland (2.27). Higher are Tricity, Bydgoszcz and Katowice.

_{Maciej Borkowski, head of the Wroclaw chapter of ABSL}

- Importantly, Wroclaw ranks first among the so-called Tier 1 cities, ahead of Warsaw and Kraków, among others. This shows that, in the long term, the IT sector has played a significant role in shaping Wroclaw's current economic structure. The best proof of this is Capgemini's presence among the top 5 largest investors in the city," comments Maciej Borkowski.

Capgemini has been in Wroclaw for 20 years, and the changes that have taken place in the city during that time have gone hand in hand with the development of the company.

We can see how the needs of the labour market have changed - at the beginning, our team consisted mainly of programmers with up to five years' experience, working on projects for German companies, often on the client's premises. Today, Wroclaw, like Capgemini, is a centre of modern technology, and we act as consultants offering complex technological solutions.

_{Grzegorz Wołodko, Vice President, Head of GDC Application Business Line at Capgemini Poland}

Wołodko adds that Capgemini in Wrocław already employs not only IT specialists but also business experts, responding to the growing needs of companies looking for comprehensive support in their digital transformation.

^{Location factor for selected IT centres in 2024 and 2023}

How the Wroclaw IT Hub is attracting international investment

Wroclaw is becoming one of the most important IT hubs in Poland, ranking second in terms of the number of people employed in technology centres. Around 20,500 people currently work in the local IT sector, confirming its key role in the national technology scene.

Wroclaw's dynamic development attracts both international investment and highly qualified specialists, strengthening its position as a technological leader in Poland. This dynamic development demonstrates the attractiveness of Wroclaw as a location for investors, who value not only access to qualified personnel, but also the developed infrastructure and cooperation with local research centres.
IT industry in Wroclaw. Employment growth and impact on the local labour market.

The development of the IT sector brings significant benefits to the local economy. As well as creating new jobs in the centres, the sector also generates many jobs in supporting industries such as catering and transport.

- The impact of business services companies on the local labour market goes well beyond direct employment. The companies stimulate the city's economic development by creating additional jobs in many sectors. Capgemini in Wroclaw, which directly employs 2,400 people, is estimated to generate around 4,300 jobs in total. This proves the important role of the IT industry in shaping the local economy - says Piotr Siuda, Vice President, Head of Financial Services at Capgemini Poland.

^{Employment in IT centres (thousands of people) in five main locations in Poland}

What is the future of the IT sector in Wroclaw?

The IT sector in Wroclaw has prospects for further dynamic development. The city attracts investors with its ability to implement advanced technologies and innovative solutions. In the coming years, data analytics technologies such as Snowflake, low-code platforms and initiatives related to GenAI or ESG will play a key role in the strategies of global companies.

New technologies are a key driver for many industries and their development in the coming years will cover a wide range of areas.

Looking ahead, I see significant potential for the development of the IT sector in Wroclaw for leading companies in the financial sector, banks and insurance companies, including Capgemini, of course. Companies in the financial sector, especially global investment banks, will face challenges related to the increasing cost of not only creating but also maintaining legacy systems, as well as the low test coverage of systems and integration platforms in this industry, which are mainly based on Java.

_{Piotr Siuda, Vice President, Head of Financial Services at Capgemini Poland}

Siuda adds that he believes security issues related to code migration and refactoring, as well as process automation, will also be in the spotlight. In addition, further implementations of blockchain technology will be key to ensuring secure transactions and data protection. Modern business service centres will play a key role in all of the aforementioned developments, positioning themselves as advisors and leaders in technology transformation.

- In the near future, we will certainly develop with customers operating in areas such as logistics, automotive, telecommunications and the public sector, especially in defence-related institutions. We already have many customers in these industries. This is where technological change is most needed. Today, it is not only the implementation of new technologies that is crucial, but above all their appropriate and customised selection. In our R&D centre, we create solutions together with our customers so that they have the best possible application in business reality," adds Grzegorz Wołodko.

- We see a growing demand for people with professional experience in areas such as cloud, big data or GenAI. We want to hire data engineers with several years of experience on platforms such as Azure and AWS, and knowledge of tools such as Snowflake or Databricks. Poland, and Wroclaw in particular, has become one of the key points on the map of the European IT market, offering companies excellent conditions for growth and innovation," concludes Mateusz Szutkowski, Managing Director Insights & Data Poland at Capgemini Poland.

Wroclaw Business Showcase: Business, R&D Centres, IT Industry, Office Space

BSS and R&D centres in Wroclaw

Business Services (BSS) centres in Wroclaw: 208 (largest: BNY Mellon, HPE, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlobalLogic, Luxoft, EY)
Research and development (R&D) centres in Wroclaw: +100 (largest: 3M, Mondelēz International, Viessman, Nokia, Dolby)
Employment: around 60,000 people

Office space in Wroclaw

1.4 million square metres