Catalonia has 140 technological hubs of foreign companies that develop digital services with global impact. This figure represents a growth of 11% compared to the previous year due to the landing of 14 prominent firms in the world of mobility, health and video games, such as Astra Zeneca, Lufthansa, Oracle, Netease or Rovio.
According to the Tech Hubs Overview report, the phenomenon would not be understood without the attractiveness that Barcelona projects towards the international community. The city concentrates 76% of the offices or 95% of the total if the hubs that have been installed in the metropolitan area are also taken into account.
“Multinationals choose the city for its capacity to attract multidisciplinary talent, the high level of local talent, its geographical location and the ecosystem of companies and industries,” says the report, prepared by the Mobile World Capital foundation together with Acció (Generalitat ) and the direction of International Economic Promotion of Barcelona City Council.
According to the study, these companies develop software and, in some exceptions, hardware, research and prototyping (sectors that the first edition of the report did not take into account). The city is especially attractive for multinationals in the video game world, which represent 2 out of every 10 hubs, followed by health and consulting businesses.
The economic impact that these 140 companies generate in the territory exceeds 2.5 billion euros annually, a figure that will skyrocket to 3.6 billion within two years, according to the study's estimates. "The growth figure for 2023 has been a pleasant surprise and we hope that in the coming years more multinationals will bet on Catalonia," said this Wednesday at a press conference the president of the Mobile World Capital foundation, Francesc Fajula, together with the Minister of Company, Roger Torrent, and Raquel Gil, councilor of Promoció Econòmica i Treball.
In terms of employment, the technology centers employ a total of 26,407 people, of which 5% work completely remotely from anywhere in the world. The end of the pandemic has caused the majority of these multinationals to apply a hybrid work policy, which combines remote and in-person work.
