A new data-driven tool, aimed at helping Basque-based employers identify and attract global talent to the Basque Country, has been launched by the non-profit organisation Bizkaia Talent. The new Headhunting Support Centre (HSC) will provide Basque-based businesses access to real-time market data – such as sectoral conditions and labour trends – so that they can refine their recruitment strategies and develop bespoke and globally-competitive job packages for prospective employees. Using data drawn from a variety of sources, including Addeco, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Eurostat, and the millions of items of sectoral information collected by the Basque Talent Observatory and Basque Employment Service, the platform provides information on and access to:
- Occupational demand, sectoral trends and predicted market growth of certain skills and university-qualified graduates in the STEM, social sciences, and humanities fields;
- A recruitment support service, which can advise organisations how to develop and retain their skilled labour force;
- Current salary averages, across numerous sectors (such as education, engineering, IT and medicine) in the Basque Country;
- Salary differentials between major Spanish cities, such as Barcelona and Madrid;
- Global pay-scale information for various industries and their sub-sections, including comparisons between salaries in the Basque Country, other EU countries and the Americas;
- Data on the standard of living in the Basque Country, compared with other countries and regions, according to the OECD and Eurostat;
- A professional search ‘super-tool’, which identifies compatible professionals by analysing thousands of CV and profiles by different criteria and key words in a matter of milliseconds;
- Information on the Biscay Government’s tax rebate incentives, of up to 35%, which are eligible for international professionals who relocate to the Basque Country.
The HSC’s use of global data, and well as information collected independently in the region, Europe and the US, will mean Basque-based organisations will have access to a live business tool, capable of identifying labour trends, mapping prospective skills demand and shortages, and local, national and worldwide shifts in salaries.
To complement the launch of this organisation-focused platform, Bizkaia Talent has also revamped its world-leading Career Development Centre (CDC), aimed at skilled professionals – such as technicians, engineers and software developers – that may want to work in the Basque Country. This online tool provides a digitised counselling service to registered uses, as well as information about and access to:
- The latest sectoral conditions across the Basque labour market;
- Trends across the region’s industry, with information broken down into the skills, competences and occupations that are in greatest demand;
- A comprehensive data and algorithm-driven job-matching platform, which allows users to identify career and industry openings based upon their soft and hard skills, competences, and qualifications;
- Salary trends, and existing and predicted job opportunities across Basque industry, according to live market data;
- Predicted levels of disposal income in the Basque Country, compared to the EU-28, based on the user’s entries;
- Data on the standard of living in the Basque Country, compared with other countries and regions, according to the OECD and Eurostat;
- Further details on incentive schemes that are in place for those that choose to move to the Basque Country, such as scale-up funding, tax deductions, and relocation support services.
The CDC is a stand-out platform for skilled jobseekers. Unlike other recruitment portals, it is intuitive and uses algorithms that are capable of interpreting a professional’s situation, and the sector they work in, in a matter of milliseconds. For example, the CDC will analyse millions of items of data from numerous sources – such as Bizkaia Talent’s ‘Basque Talent Observatory’, which has analysed over 35,000 highly qualified job offers in the Basque Country over the last 24 months – to identify career options that match a user’s educational-level, skills and technical expertise, with the needs of Basque industry. It details the ‘soft skill’ demands in the Basque Country – skills that many candidates fail, or have no option, to disclose via traditional job portals – to provide a comprehensive map of opportunities beyond their education and technical alignment. This use of live data, drawn from local, national and international sources, sets the CDC apart from the single-issue, and rudimentary, focus of many platforms and provides users with a multi-faceted take on their career and future employment opportunities.
The system has been designed as a means of helping the Basque Country future-proof its economy, and better appeal to global talent following the 2008 global financial crisis, which resulted in a “brain drain” from southern Europe to major industrial economies such as France, Germany and the UK.
“The global race for skilled labour is at an all-time high, and, with the rise of new technologies and the increased flexibility and mobility of workers, we’re looking to provide a platform that will allow Basque-based businesses to compete for the world’s best talent,” said Bizkaia Talent’s managing director, Ivan Jimenez. “The new centres will help businesses and professionals individualise their recruitment and career strategies with the support of live market data – and complement our existing talent-mapping efforts across Europe and the Americas.
“With its strong industrial history, and marrying of business, liberal traditions and a southern European lifestyle, we believe the Basque Country is an attractive place for professionals and investors to live and work,” he continued. “For those raising a family, its combination of natural beauty, low crime, lively streets, high levels of happiness and successful education and health system also make it a stand-out and globally-competitive option.”
With a high percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) dedicated to research and development (R&D), and a glowing ranking with the OECD’s Wellbeing Index, the Basque Country is well placed to accommodate such workers and is on its way to becoming a global hub of innovation and growth. It is already home to a number of business giants, including Iberdrola, one of the world’s largest energy suppliers, and compares favourably with Madrid and Barcelona as a ‘scale-up’ destination.
