KLAIPĖDA ISSUES INTERNATIONAL CALL TO HIRE IT PROFESSIONALS: OVER 100 VACANCIES TO BE FILLED

Klaipėda, a port city in Lithuania, is now inviting people to come and enjoy the seacoast for quite a bit longer than just the holiday season, with a chance to land a job with global IT companies and the country’s own budding start-ups.

The city development agency Klaipėda ID, which directly deals with all major IT companies in the region and runs a busy platform of job vacancies, notes that the port town currently has a shortage of IT professionals, with over 100 vacancies at various qualification levels and an after-tax salary of up to EUR 3,500 waiting to be filled. Vacancies are available at both global companies like Exadel, Devbridge and Omega, as well as Lithuania’s own Telesoftas, Whatagraph and Ineractio, whose services are already being used by most European and US clients.

The continuing growth of the business and innovation valley Baltic Tech Park and the recently launched construction of the Baltic Maritime DIH both indicate a lack of new talent in the region – whether the issue is filling open positions the Baltic Tech Park team or planning the business operations of the Baltic Maritime DIH in the long term. This is why, following a long and extensive search for local talent, it was decided to go the extra mile and invite professionals from neighbouring countries to apply.

According to Ignas Aničas, Innovation Director at Baltic Tech Park, a new communication campaign has been launched with a goal of presenting Klaipėda on the international stage as an open city, a city of opportunity, and a great place to live, work and find quality leisure: ‘The rapid growth of Lithuania’s digital economy has a key limiting factor, and that is the increasingly evident shortage of IT professionals. Our universities are often lagging behind the highly dynamic technological sector, and that is why Lithuania should focus more on attracting talent internationally. We have decided to initiate a campaign with a view to presenting on the international stage the IT job opportunities in Klaipėda and, of course, the attractive balance of work and leisure that our city offers.

The Baltic Maritime DIH will have an area of over 2,000 sq. m., with 3D printing, robotics, digital design, electronics, neuromarketing and metal and woodworking labs, allowing its personnel and clients alike to perform testing with the help of the state-of-the-art technology.

Companies that have been using the coworking space provided by Light House, which has been operating for two years in the Baltic Tech Park valley, are also increasingly feeling the shortage of qualified candidates. ‘We have an active community of start-ups here at Light House Coworking. We often hear about teams looking to hire new members, with the process taking six months or even more. This is a serious obstacle to any growing business, resulting in missed opportunities. By talking about this openly, we are hoping to attract talent from Latvia, Belarus and Poland. We have all the necessary infrastructure to welcome them here – from coworking spaces to accommodation. All of this is available in the same Light House building,’ says Eglė Stebulienė, Director at Light House.

Light House offers an excellent work and life balance, with both open and closed-space offices, a coliving space, a restaurant, a gym and a hairdresser’s. If needed, this could be the first stop for IT professionals moving to Klaipėda.

Partnering with the campaign for attracting talent initiated by the Baltic Tech Park is the city development agency Klaipėda ID. All open vacancies complete with company descriptions are available to the public on the Klaipėda ID website at https://www.klaipedaid.lt/find-a-job-in-klaipeda/.

The city of Klaipėda offers not only international careers with competitive salaries but also a slower and calmer pace of life, active leisure, seaside attractions and everything needed for families to comfortably settle in, with 9 Russian-speaking public kindergartens and 6 schools, 61 study programmes with instruction in English and Europe’s only international university modelled after North American higher education institutions, the LCC International University. Advice and assistance on all visa matters is provided as needed.