On the opening day, it was still empty, but soon it will be full of highly qualified and differentiated workers, who will provide services to the whole world, in the field of cutting-edge technological solutions. Deloitte inaugurated its Faro on Tuesday, the 16th of May, and expects to “fill it” with national and international talent in the coming months.
The UAlg Tec Campus, on the Penha Campus of the University of Algarve, was the location chosen by this multinational to open its seventh office in Portugal and the second outside the Metropolitan Areas of Lisbon and Porto, which will have the capacity to accommodate 250 workers.
«What we have here is a Deloitte office that will work integrated in two world centers of complex technological solutions that we have in Portugal, that work not only for clients and companies in Portugal, but also work abroad», he revealed to journalists António Lagartixo, executive director and Managing Partner of Deloitte Portugal, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the new premises.
That is, «a good part of the work and services that will be provided from the Faro, is aimed at customers from other countries, from other continents, and will, to that extent, constitute exports, which is a source of pride for us».
And we are not talking about just any service.
The two structures to which the office of Faro of Deloitte Portugal will be associated «were the first two world centers of advanced technological solutions [Global Technology Solutions Center]» of this multinational and were born in our country.
These centers provide “complex services, with added value, which have to be provided by different people, people with a lot of training who, naturally, also earn better wages”.
In other words, "are not the so-called Technology Delivery Centers, which are typically associated with low-value, low-cost services».
«That's not where we position ourselves, because in Portugal we don't have the volume of people, or the low cost of labor, to be able to compete. We, in Portugal, do not work in a logic of paying our people as little as possible », he assured.
In a first phase, this new hub will welcome «people and professionals from Deloitte Portugal in the areas of technology».
«With this office and the facilities we currently have, we will be able to reach the 250 employees served by this infrastructure. Our idea is to quickly reach 150 or 200 employees. This is, let's say, the very short-term plan», revealed António Lagartixo.
In fact, Deloitte already has a workforce in Faro since 2021, made up of young people who are being trained in a Higher Professional Technical Course that the multinational and the University of Algarve created, under the Brightstart programme, which aims to accelerate the skills of students who have finished secondary school and want to pursue a career in the technological area.
«We currently have more or less 40 students/professionals in these courses. There are two classes, one for the first year and one for the second. We are going to start with one or two more now in September, so we will quickly reach a universe of 80 to 100 people within this collaboration that we have with the University of Algarve and the Instituto Superior de Engenharia», illustrated the executive director of Deloitte Portugal.
In addition to these employees trained under the Brightstart programme, «the idea is to have people here with more professional experience, who may come from other areas of Portugal».
As time goes by, the company wants the now young employees trained by UAlg to become senior employees who “evolve professionally. We want to give a career to the people we are going to hire here for our office in Faro».
«We also have the ambition to bring people from outside Portugal, to attract foreign talent that can come and settle here in the Algarve region, to work with us», he added.
From here, «it is to continue to grow depending on what is, on the one hand, the ease of attracting new talent and, on the other, the ability to retain talent here in the Algarve».
To find and train the talent that exists in the region, companies that operate in the technological sector and need human capital can rely on the University of Algarve, which already offers two degrees in computer engineering, one in the university subsystem and the other in the polytechnic.
The latter, explained Paulo Águas, rector of the University of Algarve, was created with the aim of giving CTESP students promoted together with Deloitte the possibility to take a degree.
Even with this duplication, UAlg has had no difficulty in recruiting students to fill vacancies, as both offers «are a success».
António Lagartixo, moreover, did not spare praise for Higher Education Institutions and the quality of the students they train, which he considered crucial in attracting companies such as Deloitte to our country.
Paulo Santos, vice president of the Chamber of Faro, which is also a partner of UAlg Tec Campus, highlighted the will of the municipality to support the continuity and possible growth of the company in the Algarve.
Right now, the Tec Campus facilities are full, despite requests from companies to guarantee a space in this business acceleration center.
In this way, the Chamber of Faro wants to proceed «as soon as possible» with the expansion of the technological center to a neighboring land, next to the municipal swimming pools, where a new building will be built on a plot of 12 thousand square meters.
Photos: Hugo Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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