Kitzbühel start-up

Working from home: skilled workers from Nigeria for IT

(Bild: Andrey Popov - stock.adobe.com)

A start-up in Kitzbühel is fighting the shortage of IT specialists and is recruiting in Nigeria. The staff work from home for local companies. The focus is on SMEs. The founder emphasizes the contractual legal certainty for potential customers.

"Necessity is the mother of invention", as the old saying goes. Necessity currently prevails in almost all sectors when it comes to labor and skilled workers, as the "Krone" has reported on several occasions. When it comes to well-trained IT specialists, the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber speaks of "a precarious situation". After all, there is a shortage of around 28,000 specialists in all nine federal states combined. This is precisely where the start-up "hireFAIR", which is based in the chamois town of Kitzbühel, comes in.

What many people in Austria and Europe are often unaware of is that there are a large number of up-and-coming, well-trained talents in the IT sector in Africa and Nigeria in particular.

Lily Akpuaka-Bosse

According to the report, there are around 85,000 IT experts in Nigeria
It was founded by Lily Akpuaka-Bosse. She has several years of international experience as an IT expert as well as in organizational development and employee training. "What many people in Austria and Europe often don't know is that there are a large number of up-and-coming, well-trained talents in the IT sector in Africa and Nigeria in particular who are eager to prove themselves in international projects and get a fair chance," explains the neo-entrepreneur. She refers to a report by Google and the International Financial Corporation, which shows that there are 85,000 software developers in Nigeria.

The top priority for me is to ensure that processes and workflows run smoothly and that any obstacles can be cleared quickly if there is a hitch.

Lily Akpuaka-Bosse

Offer primarily for small and medium-sized enterprises
Akpuaka-Bosse would now like to establish partnerships between companies in Tyrol or Austria and Nigerian specialists. However, the skilled workers will remain in their home country and work from home. "My top priority is to ensure that processes and workflows run smoothly and that any obstacles can be cleared quickly if there is a hitch. That's why I take part in all meetings and video calls myself, so that I can always provide support and stay on the ball," explains the founder. The service is primarily aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. They have absolute legal certainty. "In the event of a collaboration, they conclude a contract with my Austrian GmbH," concludes Akpuaka-Bosse.

"There is a huge shortage of IT specialists throughout Austria, but especially in Tyrol. Cooperation between Tyrolean companies and skilled workers from abroad is not only to be welcomed, but also supported," says WK district chairman Peter Seiwald.