Barcelona Digital Talent promotes digital talent at an international speed dating event that will bring together over 110 professionals

• This online day for attracting international talent has received over 2,000 interview applications
• Companies such as Everis, Zurich, Damm, Bayer and Glovo will hold interviews with a total of 111 candidates to cover jobs in the digital sector
• The speed dating event will involve professionals from countries that include Romania, Poland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Mexico, India and Morocco

24 November, 2020

Barcelona, 24 November 2020. – This Tuesday, Barcelona Digital Talent is holding an international speed dating event to bring digital talent into contact with technology companies that operate partially in Barcelona. This event is promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ACCIÓ and the directors of Barcelona City Hall’s City Promotion Office, as part of the alliance with Barcelona Digital Talent.

The 111 candidates come from 13 different countries: Romania, Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Croatia, Austria, India, Mexico, Portugal, Ukraine and Morocco. There will be a total of 191 interviews with 13 companies that need to cover digital sector jobs and are unable to find people with suitable profiles on the local market. These companies are Everis, Ocado, Zurich, Webhelp, Damm, Bayer, Copernic, I2Cat, Glovo, Bayer, ERNI, Altran and World Sensing. These are both large and smaller companies, startups, and a research and innovation centre. They work in different sectors yet all need to hire people with specialised technological skills.

The goal of Barcelona Digital Talent is to consolidate the city of Barcelona as a capital for digital talent. According to Digital Talent Overview 2020, 31% of the digital talent that works in Barcelona comes from other cities.

This project to attract international talent is being promoted within the Barcelona Digital Talent alliance by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ACCIÓ, through its offices overseas, and the management of Barcelona City Hall’s City Promotion Office. The project will involve interviews throughout the day and culminate with a practical webinar to answer any queries candidates may have about coming to live and work in Barcelona. The entire day will take place online and is intended to encourage the creation of synergies among companies and digital workers.

The formula works and arouses the interest of professionals. During the registration period for the speed dating event, up to 2,085 interview applications were received from 273 candidates. “This is a clear example that we should continue exploring alternative ways of meeting market needs. Reducing the digital divide should be one of our short-term priorities in the process of consolidating Barcelona as a pole for attracting international talent”, said Jordi Arrufí, spokesman for Barcelona Digital Talent and Director of Digital Talent of Mobile World Capital Barcelona.

Events like this exemplify Barcelona’s commitment to making talent and innovation pillars of the new economy. The promotion of digital talent in the city has in fact now become a priority on the economic agenda in order to respond to the increase in employment demand in the ICT sector and to generate quality jobs. Hence the promotion of measures such as this, the ultimate goal of which is to attract, retain and encourage talent, and also of services like those offered by the Cibernàrium, IT Academy, and the Technology Park of Barcelona City Hall’s Barcelona Activa.