The new office in Basel is situated in a private office leased from a flexible office solutions provider. What were the key reasons for this choice?
The main reason is flexible scaling. To start with, there were only two employees at the new location, but we are expanding on an ongoing basis. We ruled out a co-working space as there is no guarantee of privacy in that type of environment, and you could well find yourself coincidentally sitting next to a competitor on any given day. Here we have our own room with tables and computer monitors, and only those with authorization can enter; the only shared space is the break room, which has a coffee machine and a fridge. Our long-term goal is to have our own office in Basel, but as a first step a private office is a good and flexible solution.
Is there a hybrid working concept that would make it easier for employees from Germany and France to work for us?
We'd like to introduce that, but our hands are tied by the law in this respect: cross-border commuters have to spend at least 75 percent of their working time in the office. It is therefore not possible for them to work from home more than one day a week. For employees based in Switzerland, however, the hybrid working concept applies, as in all other ti&m offices.
Why was Basel chosen for the site of the third office in Switzerland?
There is excellent potential for future employees and clients here. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit new employees around Zurich and Bern. As a hub for northwest Switzerland, Basel has a large area to draw on. In the Basel three-country region there are outstanding IT specialists from universities and colleges. For anyone not wanting to commute to Bern or Zurich, the city is in an ideal location; Basel is also attractive to employees from Alsace or southern Germany.
What about clients? When you think of Basel, first and foremost you think pharmaceuticals.
We have several long-standing clients in Basel and we're now in a better position to cater for their needs. The region is also home to many businesses in sectors in which we have already implemented a lot of successful projects: banking and insurance, health insurance, and retailers, as well as public administration, transport services, hospitals, and energy companies. And of course, the life science and med tech industries are also very exciting and innovative business sectors.
You joined us at the same time as the Basel office opened. What brought you to ti&m? What are your goals?
I live in Binningen, on the outskirts of Basel, and I grew up in a small village nearby. Setting up a new office here is a very appealing challenge. I have previously worked on projects together with surfers from ti&m and I got a good insight into the team and the inner workings of the company during these periods. What impressed me about ti&m even back then was the drive and innovative mindset applied in approaching each project. This is also demonstrated by the many prizes that ti&m has been awarded for its solutions, and the various employer awards underline just how important a good working culture is at the company. What's more, in contrast to many other IT service providers, we only rarely offer body leasing; instead, we mostly develop our own, innovative products in internal teams.
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