A new global financial service centre has been opened in Budapest - VIDEO REPORT
2019. 04. 02.
Work has now officially started at the new Budapest office of International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). The business services centre (BSC) of the US company will support the operation of the group through global financial services, reaching the targeted employee number of 100 by the end of this year.
The company, having its seat in New York, was founded in 1889, and its shares have been listed on the New York stock exchange since 1964. IFF mainly produces flavours and fragrances, used among others by the cosmetics industry and the food industry. The activities of IFF are organized to three main scope of activities: the Scent dealing with fragrances, components, and ingredients; the Taste producing flavours for beverages, sweets, and food; and the Frutarom dealing with natural taste- and cosmetics agents. The company has 97 production plants and 105 R&D centres in 37 countries globally, and supplies to 39,000 customers with 13,000 employees over the world.
IFF's global financial service centre in Hungary started with about 50 employees, and this number will be doubled according to the plans by the end of 2019, to be over 100 people. In the company group's decision for a Hungarian investment, the strategic location that enables to cooperate with both US and Asian time zones, and availability of people speaking exotic languages also played an important role, besides the main business languages spoken.
Hungary has one of the most mature BSC markets in the Central Eastern European region and its dynamic development characteristic of the past two decades has not lost impetus recently, either. Currently there are about 110 business service centres operating in Hungary, employing approximately 50,000 persons belonging typically to Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1999) who have a degree and speak foreign languages. These services centres that provide their services in five languages in the average, or even in more than thirty languages, contribute to a great extent to the opportunity that as many talented and highly qualified professionals can find career development opportunities in Hungary as possible. High salaries, rapid advancement and promotion opportunities and the use of foreign languages, as well as international prospects offer an attractive alternative for young people today, even in the long term.
