By Mike Theodoulou
You might be an international company in Cyprus scouting for highly skilled employees. Or you could be a high-flying Cypriot IT professional in London or Melbourne who would love to come home – provided you can find a rewarding career.
Invest Cyprus, which promotes and facilitates foreign investment in Cyprus, has now launched a free match-making website that will bring you together with a just a few clicks of the keyboard.
Called Invest Career, the platform is part of Invest Cyprus’ proactive drive to provide ongoing support to existing and prospective investors in any sector by making it easy to find and recruit the best talent. Equally, Invest Cyprus believes Invest Career will help to reverse the island’s brain drain, although qualified professionals of any nationality can also register, as can Cypriots living here. Invest Career’s highly effective search tools identify and attract the best candidates for a job – wherever they are.
“Our portal (www.invest.career) is the key to a unique pool of listed professionals and companies seeking to make the most out of what Cyprus offers in terms of job opportunities and human talent,” says CIPA’s Natasa Pilides (former Director General).
The number and range of companies locating their regional or global headquarters in Cyprus have risen steadily in recent years, with financial stability and a surge in economic growth attracting a steady increase in foreign direct investment.
On Invest Career, companies can outline what they require of an employee for an opening, the salary range and when the employee would be required. In turn, those seeking a career in Cyprus can list their skills, experience, what salary they would consider, and when they would be available to relocate. It gives both company and potential employee the chance to plan ahead.
Sophisticated software then sends companies and prospective employees electronic notifications alerting them to the best matches. For instance, a job-seeker would learn that his or her qualifications, skillset and experience match 80 percent of what a certain company needs for a particular placement, or 65 percent of what another employer requires. In turn, a company will be notified about which job-seekers match what they are looking for and by what percentage.
With one of the highest per capita rates of graduates in the world, Cyprus has a rich pool of human talent. But expanding its width and depth is essential to keeping pace with the international business sector’s rapid growth.
Following large offshore gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus is expected to become a regional energy trading hub and IOCs (international oil companies) are already making Cyprus their base to support exploration drilling. Other developments, such as Brexit, also mean that many international companies are either relocating their headquarters to Cyprus, establishing a presence, or expanding existing activities here.
All need skilled, multilingual staff. In particular, there is increasing demand for employees with IT skills and experience. Many overseas Cypriots working in top-notch companies overseas fit this profile. They moved abroad either during the recent recession or studied and remained overseas because of better opportunities.
Now many companies in Cyprus offer opportunities that compete with the best abroad. Salaries are attractive and while they might not be as high as those for top professionals in London or New York, nor is the cost of living or income tax. Returning Cypriot professionals will be able to save more here than they would in other more expensive European cities. Invest Career has a handy information section detailing the cost of living, tax rates and other incentives.
Many of the same incentives account for Cyprus’ success as an international business centre. It has a business-friendly environment that is efficient, transparent and well-regulated. Operational costs are substantially lower than in mainland Europe while Cyprus’ corporate tax regime is highly favourable and there are tax breaks for expatriate executives. A popular holiday island, Cyprus is also renowned for its quality of life and very low crime rates.
Last but not least is the island’s strategic location as the European Union’s easternmost member. In one direction, Cyprus is the eastern gateway into the EU’s market of 500 million people. In the other, Cyprus provides an ideal springboard into emerging markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, and enjoys excellent relations with the oil and gas-rich Gulf states.
