The Portuguese city of Porto is a great source of good-value programmers; a sentiment that Rocket Internet, having recently been blessed with an additional €300 million, has agreed with by opening a new development centre in the city.
I talked with Miguel Pinto, Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer of Rocket Internet’s new Porto Development Center about the noise he is creating in the local employment market. “We are looking for people with different profiles, from junior and senior developers to usability, quality assurance and project management professionals, so it’s natural that the 130 people we’ve hired in less than 4 months made some difference”, Miguel confirmed. I’ve been also told the hiring spree will continue to meet “the company demand for additional development teams” but any number is “nothing but a free estimate, only the future will tell”.
Miguel Pinto has been managing the Portuguese branch for 4 months now and was ‘doing it all’, as per the startup spirit. “I wish construction work could be more reliable”, he complained regarding the new office. They will be occupying two floors of an office building in the city’s business center, going up from “a few offices and rooms nearby”. Miguel’s 10-year developer experience was a key reference for this role. He is also an entrepreneur, currently with two projects in hand. Would this be all about it? “We’ll see. Very soon”, Miguel answers.
And so it goes, right by the Boavista roundabout. Those who apply to work here might have the opportunity to spend a few weeks in Berlin, learning the ‘Rocket way’ of working and kick start a project that they’ll continue to work on when they return to Porto.
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What Rocket Internet is doing really boosts the European economy, good work Rocket!
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