During this quarter, Nokia will establish a new 90 million euro skill centre in Portugal, which will create 300 new jobs until next year. The memorandum of understanding with the Government was signed last Wednesday.
This «global skill centre» should be developed within the complex Nokia currently owns in Amadora. The idea is to significantly reinforce «the brand’s presence in Portugal, where it already has 2.000 employees. The centre will be focused on business support advanced services», explained Nokia Portugal’s General Manager, Sérgio Catalão, quoted by Eco.
In terms of the remote work increase, Sérgio Catalão admitted that «virtualisation is one of this sector’s and function’s characteristics», but guaranteed that the group still «needs physical presence, which may be complemented with more virtual performances».
The investment will be applied on infrastructure and hiring new professionals. André de Aragão Azevedo, minister of State, Economy and Digital Transition, explained that the memorandum of understanding signed this week with Nokia turned the company «into a key partner for the development and orientation of digital skills in straight collaboration with higher learning. It shows the conditions we created in Portugal to attract this type of investment».
The minister of Economy, Pedro Siza Vieira, highlighted «a very significant decision for Nokia in terms of creating here a global skill centre to serve the world. It is an important decision. It was a competitive process, in which Nokia pondered several locations for this investment».
According to the minister, amongst the country’s characteristics which attracted this investment, were «access to national talent and the ability to attract international talent» and the «impressive start-up ecosystem». He further considered that «it means there is a system which feeds off itself in terms of innovation».