April 27th, 2021 - ALTEN, the local subsidiary of the group of French origin and one of the most important IT and engineering consulting companies, claims that the year it crossing will be a good one for the IT industry. In fact, due to the super skilled workforce, Romania delivers, today, projects at the highest level. The company plans to reach more than 730 employees in 2021, following the recruitment of 100 IT and engineering specialists for offices in the country.

The dynamics of the projects of the last months, as well as the cautious optimism of the clients are favorable indicators that announce a good year for the entire IT & C industry. The pandemic has already forced companies in the region to change their perspective and business model, which has boosted the demand for support and advice for the research and development (R&D) area.

"The Research & Development (R&D) part is extremely dynamic, even in times of crisis, such as the one we are going through, because it determines employees to constantly innovate. It is, practically, their responsibility to develop, for the future, new, alternative, efficient and viable solutions for very competitive industries, such as the automotive industry, for example.”, considers Lidia Pleniceanu, Business Unit Director at ALTEN Romania.

ALTEN representatives believe that the projects carried out in recent months will convince more and more global companies to gain even more trust in Romania and will either encourage them to allocate new investments to existing ones or to contribute new ones.

In fact, the fast pace of digitization will allow the cancellation of physical distances and will lead to a flexibility of processes never seen before. "If the two trends materialized, we could see important opportunities for us, as a country and a company", points out Lidia Pleniceanu .

What 2020 has brought locally

The last year has affected us all, in one way or another, and transformed the way we approach our work and businesses. We have seen how, at least during the lockdown months, many organizations have chosen caution and postponed their new projects and investments. Since last autumn, however, a slight dynamism has been observed in many industries.

The pandemic has pressed the accelerator pedal for digitization projects locally. It was a challenging time. Overall, the IT sector (more specifically, software development), the telecom area and the financial-banking area were the least affected by the changes in the economy. ALTEN customers in these areas continued to develop projects at a pace close to normal. Moreover, the company currently has new projects in progress or discussions for new projects. In terms of solutions, last year there was an increase in demand for software that supports employee mobility and remote work.

A macro trend, however, which has not been affected by the health crisis, refers to the change in approach from customers, from outsourcing resources to high value-added projects. More and more clients are asking experts to help them manage complex IT and engineering projects.

Forecasts for 2021, between uncertainty and optimism

Romania is a good target for the development of local activities, due to the good ratio between cost and quality. Today, when most companies are extremely attentive to this aspect, as well as due to the accelerated digitalization that allows us to work more efficiently from a distance, we are becoming more and more attractive as a country.

"For 2021, we aim to hire at least 100 new specialists. With this action, we hope to report, once again, a double-digit increase in business ", underlines the representative of ALTEN Romania about the company's recruitment plans for this year.

For many businesses and even industries, digital solutions have meant, in the last year, the difference between bankruptcy and market survival. The lack of predictability has led other companies to respond differently to the crisis and focus their attention in the short term, responding to current challenges. Another reaction to the difficult times has been, and is, for many organizations to invest in R&D in the future.

At the same time, the R&D segment is the one that will support the development of ALTEN in the next period. The projects we are currently working on and which will be implemented in the next 3-5 years will lead to the development of new and viable solutions for different markets. An eloquent example in this respect is that of the R&D projects in the automotive industry, an industry that has been visibly affected in the pandemic by declining sales and yet continues to invest without interruption.

However, experts consider it beneficial for the entire IT industry, the openness of many organizations and industries to the beneficial potential of technology. With the professional reconversion of many of us - this will have the effect of a change of perception, as well as a more open embrace of technological means.

However, although optimistic, the evolution of the technology sector, but not only, will depend, for the most part, on the evolution of case dynamics, as well as on the decisions of the authorities in this direction, taken at national and international level.

About ALTEN

As a world leader in engineering and technical consulting, the ALTEN Group conducts research and development projects for leading companies in all industries, telecommunications and services around the world. ALTEN Romania recorded a turnover of over 26 million euros (126.5 million lei) at the end of 2020. The company provides support for the development strategies of its customers in the fields of research and innovation, information systems and engineering, starting with the year 1996. ALTEN Romania represents a career accelerator for its employees, offering diversity, mobility and an organizational culture based on team spirit. More details on www.altenromania.ro .