Satellite offices - a new way of working

With the introduction of hybrid working, satellite offices began to appear at Cegeka, representing workspaces where company employees could go to perform different activities. Discover more about this concept from Andra Antonescu, HR Director, in a new ZF intervention.

1. What is a satellite office? What is the difference between a traditional office and a satellite office?

We started from what we offered before the health crisis caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which was that we had an office in Bucharest and an office in Iasi, and our efforts were focused on operating Cegeka Romania in these two offices. Through the concept of satellite offices, we want to grow and therefore we are opening other multifunctional spaces in different cities in Romania.

The traditional office is the one where the employer has his own space dedicated to him, and when we refer to the satellite office, we are talking about co-working or rented spaces where we can work with our colleagues, where we can hold discussions, meetings, etc. when we feel the need for it. In order to have a satellite office in a particular city, we need a critical mass of employees who are able to work predominantly remotely from the cities where we want to expand, while maintaining and nurturing a sense of belonging to the company. The organization will be such that colleagues from the field offices will be involved in all the activities and events we organize internally.

Our focus is also in the direction of well-being, targeting both colleagues in satellite offices and those in traditional offices in Bucharest and Iasi. The aim of this program is to encourage employees to define and succeed in their professional lives. The wellbeing strategy is closely related to the local development strategy and we strive to share as much as possible of our values and culture with colleagues working in remote locations, even if they are working in this way.

2. What will these satellite offices look like and where will they be located? Which cities in Romania and Moldova are planned for expansion?

These offices will be multifunctional and are intended to expand Cegeka by offering colleagues, partners, and clients the opportunity to meet, engage, innovate, have fun and where we can organize tech talks, meetings, or just a more personal approach. The already active cities are Brașov, Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, where we will expand, but we will not limit ourselves to these, but aim at Târgu Mureș, Suceava, Sibiu, Constanța, Craiova and Oradea.

As I said before, we are interested in large cities with specialized college centers and aim for nationwide coverage. Important for us is both the potential of the area and the growing potential of the region due to the opportunities offered by the projects of Cegeka Romania. In addition, the candidates from the cities we are targeting will attract our attention because the hybrid way of working gives us this great flexibility. This allows them to come to the satellite office and interact with their colleagues whenever needed.

3. What criteria do you use to select the location of these offices - satellites?

The current context does not allow us to have a fixed target for each city and therefore we approach recruitment on a national level. As mentioned earlier, this depends heavily on the potential of the area and the talent available locally. The choice of the location of the field offices is made in accordance with our development strategy: the proximity of universities and technological communities, the availability of European languages (besides Romanian and English, German, Italian, French).

4. What categories of staff and how many staff will work in these field offices?

Currently, there are no restrictions on the type of profiles or the number of employees, and the choice of location depends on the operational organization of our global business units and ecosystems. In theory, any global business unit or EcoSystem Cegeka can hire any type of profile at any of these satellite locations. The open positions are aimed at technical specialists for a wide range of projects, most of them in the following technologies: Java, . NET, Mobile, JavaScript, Cloud, Windows, Linux, Cyber-Security, Storage, and Digital Workplace, but we do not limit ourselves to these positions. As we always have new projects, this list grows, technologies can change, with newer ones, we invite interested candidates to constantly stay connected to our jobs website where positions are updated.

5. How many satellite offices do you expect to open in Romania and Moldova by the end of 2021?

According to the business development plan in Romania, we expect that there will be 10 satellite offices in Romania and 2 in Moldova. We are already engaged in this process and recruiting according to this approach - we have colleagues in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov, Craiova, and Chisinau. This is an ongoing recruitment process, we are targeting the cities mentioned above, but we are open to all opportunities in these locations as well as in neighboring countries.