Infineon Romania presses ahead with its development strategy
“Regarding our future development plans, we are also considering further investments in new office spaces, IT equipment and software for our new engineers,” said Neuhaeuser, adding that the company worked closely with universities, research institutes and local customers.
On that note, Neuhaeuser indicated that Infineon Romania would continue to invest in its partnerships with the universities of Bucharest and Iasi. “In the past we have had a good cooperation with the universities, offering them both laboratory equipment. We are also analyzing the possibility of approaching new universities and improving their teaching resources.”
Having launched its Romanian operations in 2005, Infineon has so far invested about ten million Euro in its business here. Speaking about the company’s investments, Neuhaeuser specified that Infineon operated three large laboratories with expensive equipment for microchip measurement and has spent sizeable amounts of money on special software for its engineers. “The cost of one such software package exceeds 100,000 Euro and we have today more than 200 engineers. We have also invested in training our staff annually. In the future, this budget will increase, as we are going to expand our staff numbers’, while we are still quite focused on developping people’s competences,” said Neuhaeuser. Speaking about Infineon Romania’s staffing policy, the General Manager emphasized that the company actually increased its headcount last year in spite of the general economic downturn. “Of course, we had to look carefully into our business needs and perspectives and we exclusively hired engineers with key competences for our future projects. Based on that strategy, we are now well situated to take advantage of the current up-turn in our target markets.”
In the 2009 fiscal year, Infineon Technologies recorded a turnover of around three billion Euro worldwide and, according to Neuhaeuser, the company is estimating a further increase in turnover this year. “Our company’s turnover reached around 50 million Lei in Romania after taxes and we have the some expectation expect the same in 2010.” Detailing the strategy used by the company, Neuhaeuser said Infineon focused on major issues such as energy efficiency, communications and security, offering semiconductors and system solutions for automotive and industrial electronics, chipcard and security applications as well as applications for communications. “Our activities in Romania are focusing on research and development for the automotive industry and security applications. We also cooperate with other Infineon R&D centers in Villach, Graz and Munich,” he specified.
Infineon Technologies decided to start an operation in Romania due to the availability of well-trained engineers in the field of microelectronics, according to the company’s official. “So far we have been successful in hiring top engineers from the local market, but lately we have seen that highly educated people are once again thinking of leaving the country due to the exisiting economic difficulties. However, the Romanian market remains attractive to us, because there are many active companies in the automotive industry, including Renault, Continental, Ford and others,” he added.
Neverthless, the braindrain remains a serious concern. Neuhaeuser indicated that Romania was a relatively young market for semiconductor development, therefore it could be seriously affected if experienced people decided to leave the country. “Another challenge we are facing is the education system, which is good in the field of basic knowledge, but it is not tailored enough to the needs of the semiconductor industry. We are working closely with the universities in an attempt to adapt their curricula to our needs,” he said.
While estimating that Romania will need two more years before its economy recovers its momentum, Neuhaeuser pleaded for a deeper sense of responsibility. “We must look into our weaknesses again. There is no more time for blaming others, everybody is expected to show a more mature and proactive behavior so we all can overcome the crisis.”
On the same subject, Neuhaeuser indicated that the austerity measures announced by the government had not affected Infineon’s operations. “So far, we have not been affected, although initially the government planned to skip tax exemptions for IT engineers. The Government should know that the IT industry is well developped in Romania; domestic and foreign investors have created thousands of jobs for highly-educated people. Therefore the authorities should further support their business expansion and jobs creation in Romania,” he added.
On that note, Neuhaeuser indicated that Infineon Romania would continue to invest in its partnerships with the universities of Bucharest and Iasi. “In the past we have had a good cooperation with the universities, offering them both laboratory equipment. We are also analyzing the possibility of approaching new universities and improving their teaching resources.”
Having launched its Romanian operations in 2005, Infineon has so far invested about ten million Euro in its business here. Speaking about the company’s investments, Neuhaeuser specified that Infineon operated three large laboratories with expensive equipment for microchip measurement and has spent sizeable amounts of money on special software for its engineers. “The cost of one such software package exceeds 100,000 Euro and we have today more than 200 engineers. We have also invested in training our staff annually. In the future, this budget will increase, as we are going to expand our staff numbers’, while we are still quite focused on developping people’s competences,” said Neuhaeuser. Speaking about Infineon Romania’s staffing policy, the General Manager emphasized that the company actually increased its headcount last year in spite of the general economic downturn. “Of course, we had to look carefully into our business needs and perspectives and we exclusively hired engineers with key competences for our future projects. Based on that strategy, we are now well situated to take advantage of the current up-turn in our target markets.”
In the 2009 fiscal year, Infineon Technologies recorded a turnover of around three billion Euro worldwide and, according to Neuhaeuser, the company is estimating a further increase in turnover this year. “Our company’s turnover reached around 50 million Lei in Romania after taxes and we have the some expectation expect the same in 2010.” Detailing the strategy used by the company, Neuhaeuser said Infineon focused on major issues such as energy efficiency, communications and security, offering semiconductors and system solutions for automotive and industrial electronics, chipcard and security applications as well as applications for communications. “Our activities in Romania are focusing on research and development for the automotive industry and security applications. We also cooperate with other Infineon R&D centers in Villach, Graz and Munich,” he specified.
Infineon Technologies decided to start an operation in Romania due to the availability of well-trained engineers in the field of microelectronics, according to the company’s official. “So far we have been successful in hiring top engineers from the local market, but lately we have seen that highly educated people are once again thinking of leaving the country due to the exisiting economic difficulties. However, the Romanian market remains attractive to us, because there are many active companies in the automotive industry, including Renault, Continental, Ford and others,” he added.
Neverthless, the braindrain remains a serious concern. Neuhaeuser indicated that Romania was a relatively young market for semiconductor development, therefore it could be seriously affected if experienced people decided to leave the country. “Another challenge we are facing is the education system, which is good in the field of basic knowledge, but it is not tailored enough to the needs of the semiconductor industry. We are working closely with the universities in an attempt to adapt their curricula to our needs,” he said.
While estimating that Romania will need two more years before its economy recovers its momentum, Neuhaeuser pleaded for a deeper sense of responsibility. “We must look into our weaknesses again. There is no more time for blaming others, everybody is expected to show a more mature and proactive behavior so we all can overcome the crisis.”
On the same subject, Neuhaeuser indicated that the austerity measures announced by the government had not affected Infineon’s operations. “So far, we have not been affected, although initially the government planned to skip tax exemptions for IT engineers. The Government should know that the IT industry is well developped in Romania; domestic and foreign investors have created thousands of jobs for highly-educated people. Therefore the authorities should further support their business expansion and jobs creation in Romania,” he added.
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