Devoteam Belgium commits to sustainability

Ten additional office locations

ICT service provider Devoteam is using ten shared offices in Belgium where employees can work closer to their homes or customers. “With the new office spaces, we want to respond to the new reality after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and achieve several objectives”, says general manager Benny Moonen of Devoteam Belgium. “We are ready for the further relaxation of rules on working in the office”.

Devoteam has three entities in Belgium: Devoteam Technology Consulting (DTC), Devoteam Management Consulting (DMC) and Devoteam G Cloud. A total of 450 digital professionals work for these divisions. The DTC and DMC entities have their offices in Belgicastraat in Zaventem, where they rent two floors. Devoteam G Cloud has its office in Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe, five kilometers away. In addition, Devoteam will now start using the shared offices of the real estate rental company Spaces.

These offices are located in Antwerp-Berchem, Mechelen, Ghent, Diegem, Liège and Brussels, where Spaces has five offices. A Spaces office is to be opened in Antwerp in December and there will be a sixth one in Brussels.

Sustainability

“We took the decision to work with dynamic office spaces spread across several regions last year after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic”, says Benny Moonen. “Employees can work in a local or central office, at home or at a customer site. Generally, 70 per cent work at customers’ premises on a regular basis. Every employee can also get a home office package from us for working from home: an office chair, computer screen and bluetooth headset. Some 75 per cent have made use of this offer. Working closer to home means fewer trips and is therefore better for the environment. Incidentally, since February of this year, all our employees have been able to opt for a fully electric company car and a corresponding charging station that we finance”.

“With the additional locations, we now have another asset to attract new employees”, says Benny Moonen. “This year, want to reach the milestone of 500 digital professionals”.

Devoteam expects a turnover of 75 million euros in Belgium this year, an increase of about 20 per cent compared to last year. The turnover in 2020 was also about 15 per cent higher than the previous year.

Benny Moonen also expects the coronavirus to have a lasting impact on where and when we work, and why we do that. “Always working in the office is no longer necessary. You can make better use of time in the office if meeting colleagues there has added value, such as when coordinating in project teams, supervising colleagues or training. Some employees like to work from home, others don’t. We want to organise work in a flexible way that benefits everyone who works for or with us, and of course build in guarantees for the quality of our services. This also increases productivity and job satisfaction.”

In Berchem, Devoteam provides fixed places in a secure branded office environment. In the other Spaces offices, another eight employees will be able to work at the same time. Depending on the interest shown, more places can be quickly arranged.

“We also consider that an advantage of Spaces. For us, flexible working and a flexible way of working with Spaces go hand in hand,” concludes Benny Moonen. “Sustainability through digitalization is one of the six areas in which Devoteam wants to be a major player. This includes working smarter and greener. We practice what we preach.”

In the press: DataNews, Bloovi, Made in, Digimedia, Channel Belgium.