Little more than a decade ago many tech professionals may have struggled to find Cluj on a map. But in that time the city’s established itself as a hotbed for tech talent. Andrei Pantelimon, General Manager at Thomsons Online Benefits in Cluj, discusses the city’s evolution and how it has cemented its reputation, into an article published by GrowthBusiness.co.uk.”In 2000, Romania was swept up in the dot com boom. While this could be said for the majority of European countries, Romania was already in a period of positive flux, with discussions about the country’s entry into the EU creating a sense of prosperity and business opportunity.
Recognising the potential of the IT sector, Romanian authorities placed the requirements of tech organisations at the heart of their plans for the city, and made a strategic investment in an internet infrastructure able to successfully support high-growth tech firms.
With a solid infrastructure in place, and the city’s 11 universities quickly developing the technical and computing skills to take advantage of it, it was only a matter of time before Cluj caught the attention of the global tech community. Wanting to provide a consistent experience to clients, global tech companies began to look to Cluj as a potential outpost. This was attractive from a practical, time zone perspective, but also financially, as competition for talent in the young market was relatively low.
These factors meant that Cluj quickly gained a reputation for IT outsourcing excellence. Lucrative operations and a significant local client base meant that many companies, such as Thomsons Online Benefits, the firm I work for now, began to house other functions in the city, including software design and development roles. This in turn gave Romanians working in tech new project management experience and in many ways heralded the next phase of market development”, says Andrei Pantelimon.
