Unconventional Thinking: Creation of Jobs in Times of Crisis

Cases and figures

• In 2006, ICL Services had 30 employees and in 2016, over 1,000 employees (increase by more than 30 times).
• In 2012–2015, the company increased the number of jobs by 45% (from 530+ to 770+).
• In 2015−2016, the number of jobs increased once again by 30% (to 1,000+).
• More than 850 jobs were created in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Over 150 jobs, in Voronezh, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg.

The major part of jobs was meant for two categories of employees: (1) graduates of profession-oriented universities and young specialists; (2) experienced IT specialists. The company also creates jobs for disabled persons and provides necessary for them working conditions.

How is it possible to create new jobs for 10 years in a row?

To create new jobs, a business has to be, first of all, profitable. In addition, it is necessary to follow four principles.

1. Provide services on a global scale. ICL Group of Companies, which includes ICL Services, belonged to Japanese company Fujitsu from 1997 to 2013. Owing to successful partnership, the company entered international market and little by little started collaborating with foreign customers. It had to reach a very high quality of services, but in return its long list of potential foreign customers decreased dependence of the company from economical status of the country — ICL Services continued growing even during the hard years of 2008−2009 and 2015−2016.
2. Work in IT. If a company runs business in a stable and fast-growing sector of Russian and global economy, it has great prospects.
3. Diversify. At ICL Services, this principle is interpreted in three aspects.
• Geographical diversification — continual enlargement of customers' countries list (as of 2016, companies from 50 countries are clients of ICL Services). In parallel with the broadening of foreign contacts portfolio, the company shows intensive growth in home market and becomes a pioneer of Russian IT outsourcing.
• Sector-specific diversification — ICL Services has a great IT outsourcing experience in industry, retail, oil and gas, finance, and other fields. The company always seeks to enlarge this list: customers are always willing to work with service providers having "sector-specific" experience.
• Services diversification — the company started from comprehensive solutions for automation of retail and logistics and developed 6 business-lines in 10 years. This means hundreds of jobs for IT specialists and a guarantee of the company stability even in case of demand pattern change in IT market.
4. "Be at home." ICL Services creates jobs across Russia and stays one of the major IT sector taxpayers of Tatarstan. High corporate social responsibility of the business gives strategic advantages for development. For example, thanks to collaboration with leading universities of Tatarstan in terms of graduates' training and job placement, the company obtains young and work-ready specialists. The only foreign branch of ICL Services (in Belgrade, Serbia) has about 20 employees. Its task is to optimize certain aspects of services provision for foreign customers.

Prospects: 2016−2021 

The company plans to create minimum 500 more jobs during 5 years, mostly in Tatarstan. To provide comfortable offices for employees, it is constructing a modern technopark for 1,300 persons. Fulfillment of these plans will once again prove that such "growth principles" are universal and applicable in any economic situation.