Why Alaska?

1.  People here like to work

In an industry where 90% of the product is human effort, the attitude of our colleagues is crucial. Besides expertise, this attitude was what had previously opened Western European markets to Hungarian IT companies. And in this same way, the Filipino work attitude – similar to the Hungarian work attitude – is characterised by a strong work ethic, loyalty, and adaptability. Due to high collectivism, they consider teamwork and community goals as important as individual interests. They respect experience and seniority, and professional leaders and experts are important to them. By comparison to other countries in the Asian region, English proficiency is very good, cultural adaptability is strong, and the deep Catholic faith that runs through the country facilitates integration into a Western work environment.

2.  Half a million new IT professionals annually

In the Philippines, the total number of higher education students is about 3.5 million, with a significant portion studying business, education, engineering, and IT fields. IT majors are among the most popular: about 18% of students study in IT fields, and two-thirds successfully complete their
higher education.

 This means that in recent years, about half a million IT professionals graduate from universities each year. Not all of them will become software developers or cloud engineers, but the three most popular specialisations are:

• Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (BSIT)
• Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS)
• Bachelor of Science in Information Systems (BSIS)

These programs are offered by nearly 2,000 higher education institutions in the Philippines. The quality of education varies, but the quantity of graduates cannot be compared to the few thousand higher education graduates in Hungary each year, even if they do so at a very high level. 

3. Philippine wages are more favourable compared to Hungarian IT wages

There are significant differences between the average salaries of IT professionals in the Philippines and Hungary. In the Philippines, an IT professional – depending on experience – earns an average gross monthly salary of 220,000–800,000 forints. In contrast, in Hungary, the starting salary of junior IT professionals is in the middle of this range, and for experienced experts, Hungarian salaries can be several times higher than the average salaries in the Philippines. 

It is important to emphasise that by establishing the new development centre, the company is laying the foundation for building hybrid teams, where the Philippine location functions as an outsourcing centre, complementing domestic operations but not replacing them.

 Hungarian colleagues deliver high-quality work daily, which satisfies our clients, and we base our International business growth strategy based on this satisfaction and expertise. 

At the same time, we clearly see that the people working in the Philippines, similar to their Hungarian colleagues, are extremely committed, the supply of an IT workforce is continuous, and the possibility of building hybrid teams can provide significant cost advantages if we aim to grow in Western European and US markets. 

It is true to say that we only got to know the country a year ago, and there is still a lot of work ahead of us, but we believe in our decision and that the invested work will pay off and become a notable financial success as well.