Double-digit growth rates have been common practice for the Linz-based online marketing specialist smec (Smarter Ecommerce) in recent years. The company was also on target in the past financial year, with sales increasing to 16 million euros thanks to the corona-related demand in online trading.
The Linz-based company’s software helps other companies to place their products and advertising ideally and automatically on Internet search engines such as Google. The approximately 500 customers include the Rewe Group, Intersport, Thalia, Schäfer Shop and Hartlauer.
Nevertheless, smec founder and managing director Jan Radanitsch sees the development with mixed feelings. “We could grow faster if we had enough employees.” Employees from 25 different nations work for the company based in the tobacco factory, ranging from Mexico to Taiwan.
There is no alternative to looking for employees abroad in the IT industry because the home market has been “swept empty”, says Radanitsch in an interview with the OÖNachrichten. A developer in Austria receives five job offers immediately after training. In total, domestic companies lack around 24,000 IT specialists. This includes not only IT companies, but also “classic” industrial, commercial and commercial companies that want to advance digitization. “During the pandemic, many realized that this meant more than just putting a few sensors on machines,” says Radanitsch.
smec employs 170 people, 130 of them in Linz. There are also locations in Vienna and London. The smec boss complains that “running the gauntlet of bureaucracy” is necessary to take on employees from non-EU countries. “It starts with the asylum status and extends to proof of any tuberculosis diseases. Basically, it’s good that everything is checked carefully, but the effort is insane.”
More space in the headquarters
However, Radanitsch also sees the location as having a duty to attract workers from abroad. A city like Linz, which is smaller in international comparison, can position itself well, but at the moment there is still a lack of political will “to really actively seek these skilled workers”.
smec itself is preparing for further growth steps. At the location in the tobacco factory, the company recently created space for 200 employees, the office space is now 2500 square meters. Work is also being done on a platform to channel the data generated by companies in online trading with the help of artificial intelligence.
Source: Nachrichten
