Dobrý deň 2.0 – Materna Slovakia continues to expand its workforce and services

For us, the importance of nearshoring in the IT sector is beyond dispute. In a previous blog post, we reported that Slovakia has been an established nearshoring location for the Materna Group for more than ten years. Materna has one site in Bratislava and one in Košice.

Igor Koška, site manager in Bratislava, explains: “In the Industries division, we have continued to expand our teams over the past twelve months. In addition, we set up a new Test Factory for the public sector at our site last year and have also grown in this area. The team is also delighted that new projects are now coming in for Materna TMT and, looking ahead, for leoquantum. Our team consists mainly of developers specialising in Java and cloud technologies, though other skills are also represented.”

Patrick Kiwitter, team and project manager in the Industries division at Materna, reports: “A lot has already happened behind the scenes, and there is still more to be done. It is important to establish internal processes that simplify collaboration. With new processes in place, it will be easier to maintain structure as teams continue to grow in the future.”

Breaking down language barriers remains a key issue in the field of German-Slovak nearshoring and is a vital component of effective cross-location communication and collaborative work on projects. Most staff in Slovakia speak German and therefore have no difficulty integrating into day-to-day working life.

Linda Macangová, who is responsible for recruitment in Slovakia, talks about a new development programme: “We launched the Development Programme this year: through this, we offer our staff the opportunity to spend three months at one of Materna’s German sites to improve their German language skills whilst also strengthening ties between the sites. I’ve also been to the company headquarters in Dortmund, and another colleague was based not far away, in Aachen. It was a really great and very helpful experience for us.”

Conversely, however, colleagues in Germany are also adapting to the language situation. Patrick explains: “At Materna SE, we have a trainee programme for career starters, which until now has been conducted entirely in German. However, as there are also some English-speaking staff in Slovakia, we have switched this programme to English as well. This has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for non-German-speaking staff.” He also sees nearshoring as a good opportunity to secure even larger projects in future and to continue growing: “Materna in Germany is growing through nearshoring, and the reverse is true as well. Nobody here is being replaced; instead, we are becoming stronger together.”

The company’s growth is opening up an ever-wider range of opportunities for colleagues in Bratislava and Košice. The latest survey also shows outstanding staff satisfaction – standing at 93 per cent. The strong team culture plays a key role in this. A highlight for staff this year was the summer party in Bratislava, which was also attended by a number of colleagues from Germany. Despite the rainy weather, everyone had a great time enjoying various sporting activities, refreshments and a live band.