Žiga Vavpotič, Chairman, Outfit7

Outfit7 is one of the fastest growing entertainment companies on the planet. Our reach, much like our ambition, is global. We want to entertain the world and we are proud to work with an amazing team to make that happen. People from all around the world work with us and we are always looking for new talent. We are a company that takes fun seriously and believes there are no limits to where great ideas can take you.

 

Sonja Šmuc, Director General, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS)

Slovenia's job market is becoming more and more open to foreign talent. In the last decade, 48,000 people migrated to Slovenia, increasing the proportion of foreign citizens to 5.5 percent of the total population. Furthermore, the number of daily 'immigrants' from neigbouring countries has risen from 2,300 in 2009 to 2,800 in 2016.

According to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2018, Slovenia ranks 28th from 199 countries. Ljubljana, on the other hand, is 49th according to the Global City Talent Competitiveness Index, outperforming cities such as Rome, Brno, Beijing and Zagreb. These figures allow for an optimistic forecast for the attractiveness of our country. Therefore, it will be even more important that our business environment becomes more business friendly and attractive to foreigners who could enhance our global competitiveness with their knowledge and expertise. Currently, our labour legislation is still too rigid and so it is urgent that a step forward is made in this area.

According to the OECD's Better Life Index, Slovenia's 20th place is above that of the Visegrad countries, as well as some developed countries such as Japan and Italy. This confirms the fact that Slovenia is a safe country with a strong emphasis on family and the preservation of nature.

 

Marjan Trobiš, CEO, Boxmark Leather d.o.o., President of the Employers' Association of Slovenia (ZDS)

The biggest challenge in this sense is to get experts in Slovenia. At Boxmark, we have an expert from Sweden and we have to pay him 30 percent more so that he has the same income as he would get in Sweden. This is very difficult for companies in Slovenia, from the perspective of being a big and competitive player in the future, to pay more for experts in Slovenia than does our competition in other parts of Europe. Slovenia still lacks a multicultural approach when people from other parts of the world come to us, and Slovenia needs to change that approach within its integration policy.

 

Saša Mrak, MBA, Executive Director, Managers' Association of Slovenia

Slovenia has a lot to offer: safety, which people in the country too often take for granted; a good quality of life; a competitive education system; and more and more knowledge-based companies. Slovenia ranked ninth from 130 countries in the Global Human Capital Index 2017. When it comes to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI), Slovenia ranks 28th. If we want to improve our ranking, we also need to improve in other aspects of attractiveness for talent among which the most important are inclusiveness, a simpler process for employing non-residents and a more encouraging taxation system.

 

Filip Remškar, CEO, Smart Com

Smart Com group and it's team strive to challenge technology and overcome ICT challenges. By applying cutting-edge technologies to the market, our endeavours resonate in the technology community and attracts great technological talent. Strategic investment in knowledge has enabled us, for 28 years, to be recognised as one of the most advanced system integrators in the region. With a focus on cybersecurity and networking, we welcome highly specialised and motivated experts from Slovenia and abroad, who are able to nurture our core values. We are therefore encouraging our officials to implement measures which will further stimulate and simplify the recruitment process for individuals from abroad looking to add value to Slovenian companies and their customers.

 

Dr Mark Pleško, CEO at Cosylab

We are a software engineering company specialising in control system integration for fusion reactors, particle accelerators and telescopes. Worldwide, we employ 180 people from more than 15 different countries and 4 different continents. 

Of course, most of us come from Slovenia and also work here, but just as Slovenia is only so big, the best talent is also limited which is why we employ local experts in our branches and try to attract people from our neighbouring countries to join us in Ljubljana. 

How? Our greatest selling point is the fact that our employees get to work on some of humanities most exciting projects and they don't have to leave Slovenia to do so. 

And then there are all the benefits: Monday pancakes, sporting activities, team-building, relocation packages and overall support when employees move countries for us. 

We are proud to say that we are the "reverse brain-drain", not only keeping the best talent in Slovenia but also bringing (back) new, talented people.