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AFS IT Services Estonia
[edit]AFS IT Services Estonia OÜ is a fintech company located in Tallinn, Estonia. It is a subsidiary of Arvato Financial Solutions (AFS), which itself is a division of Arvato, a part of the Bertelsmann Group.
AFS IT Services Estonia provides software development and related ICT services to various business units of AFS, primarily in the e-commerce payment solutions, factoring and cybersecurity fields.
History
[edit]The company grew out of Arvato's earlier operations in Estonia, which started in January 2006Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name (see the help page). primarily as an outsourced call center (now Majorel Estonia). In 2015, Arvato Financial Services was looking to establish a new Innovation and Development Center outside of its existing offices. The goal was to establish a scalable, high-quality technology Hub for the AFS group, to support business growth and digitization. After a thorough study and 60 real-life interviews that proved the availability of high expertise in IT and fintech, cultural proximity and innovative entrepreneurial mindset[1], Tallinn was selected as the location for the new office. Other favorable reasons were Estonia's overall IT-savviness, strong IT education, and the country's excellent infrastructure. The new Innovation and Development Office was set up as part of the existing Arvato Services legal entity in Estonia.
In 2016, the Innovation and Development Center received a €200,000 Foreign Recruitment Grant from Enterprise Estonia for further growth and development.[2] The company planned to hire up to 100 people in Tallinn within three years.[3]
On July 23rd, 2018, the IDC demerged from the main Arvato Services Estonia operation (which was rebranded as Majorel Estonia), and became a separate company, a direct subsidiary of Arvato Financial Services in Germany.
In 2019, AFS IT Services Estonia moved to a new office in the Telliskivi Creative City neighborhood of Tallinn.
In December of 2019, the company signed the Estonian Human Rights Centre's Diversity Charter, confirming its commitment to a multinational workplace.[4]
Workforce
[edit]AFS IT Services Estonia is a highly multinational workplace. It maintains a policy of recruiting both from Estonia and abroad, with a particular emphasis on graduates from Estonia's Tallinn University of Technology and University of Tartu, whose computer science programs attract many foreign students. The company also has an ongoing partnership with both universities, providing annual grants.[5] As of the end of 2020, the company employed over 140 people from at least 29 different nations in its Tallinn office.
In October 2020, the company's Estonian manager Agnes Makk heavily critized the Estonian government's new policy on foreign workers in an interview to Eesti Päevaleht. Although Estonia had previously maintained an open policy towards highly skilled foreigners being recruited by Estonian employers[6], Jüri Ratas' second cabinet severely curtailed the rights of non-EU/EEA citizens residing in Estonia.[7] In her interview, Makk said that if the new laws had been in place in 2016, Arvato Financial Services would not have established its Innovation and Development Center in Estonia.[8]
Membership & Recognition
[edit]In December 2019, the company received the Diverse Workplace label from the Estonian Human Rights Centre, in recognition of its multinational workforce.[9]
In 2020, AFS IT Services Estonia OÜ became a member of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications, an ICT industry representative body.
AFS IT Services Estonia was a finalist in Enterprise Estonia's 2020 Entrepeneurship Awards, in the Top 10 Innovators and Top 5 Foreign Investors categories.[10]
- ^ "Arvato Financial Solutions expands Tallinn IT operations". Invest in Estonia. 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "Arvato palkab EAS-i toel 20 uut töötajat". Majandus (in Estonian). 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "New Estonian-located development teams of foreign enterprises". Invest in Estonia. 2016-02-12. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "JUST Newsroom - 11 Estonian organisations confirmed that they value diversity - European Commission". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "Arvato Financial Solutions expands Tallinn IT operations". Invest in Estonia. 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ ERR (2016-12-15). "IRL welcomes Alien Act amendment to exempt ICT professionals from immigration quota". ERR. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ ERR, ERR, ERR News | (2020-09-14). "Employers union: Amending Aliens Act will not help economic recovery". ERR. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Välisfirma juht: praegusel ajal me Eestisse enam ei tuleks". Ärileht (in Estonian). 1603141504. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "11 organisations confirmed that they value diversity". Estonian Human Rights Centre. 2019-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "Nominees 2020". Entrepreneurship Award. Retrieved 2020-12-15.