What began as a pilot project has become a benchmark in Europe. This long-term vision has proven key to addressing one of the greatest challenges of our time: ensuring that the right talent is in the right place, at the right time.

QUALIFIED TALENT, A STRATEGIC NEED

The challenge of talent is not a matter reserved for HR departments or management teams. It is a reality that directly influences the lives of all of us who live here. When a company cannot find the profiles it needs, it slows down its development, limits its capacity to innovate, or may even consider relocating part of its activity. Conversely, when it does find them, it triggers a virtuous circle: greater competitiveness, more jobs, more investment, more quality of life.

Various international studies have shown that for every highly qualified job, between two and five additional jobs are generated, many of them lower-skilled or in auxiliary sectors. In other words, highly qualified talent multiplies the economic and social impact of employment in our territory.

Biscay, like many advanced European regions, is facing a growing shortage of qualified professionals, especially in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). This gap is further aggravated by demographic aging and increasing global competition for the same specialized profiles that companies need to project themselves into the future.

A CONNECTED TALENT STRATEGY

At Bizkaia Talent, we address this challenge from a comprehensive perspective, with three main areas of action: developing local talent, attracting global talent, and linking talent to the territory.

Talent development begins by offering real opportunities to young local talent. Our Talentia program, active since 2014, is one of the main tools to connect university students with Biscay’s business ecosystem. Since its launch, more than 1,700 students have trained in transversal skills and worked on challenges for Biscay-based companies.

This work is fundamental to anchor talent that might otherwise disconnect from the territory due to lack of awareness or weak connection with the market. Helping new generations to visualize a future in Biscay is an investment in competitiveness and social cohesion.

At the same time, we work intensively on attracting qualified talent. Our network of highly qualified professionals includes 24,000 people in more than 110 countries who, regardless of their place of origin, are or want to be connected to what happens here. Through our portal and international networking programs, we help organizations find the profiles they need and connect with professionals interested in settling in Biscay.

However, in the current context, attraction alone is not enough. That is why we provide companies and professionals with our welcome service and programs such as the Spouses Programme (aimed at facilitating the socio-labor integration of international professionals’ partners), which in the first half of 2025 has already served 171 professionals and 38 partners associated with 77 companies, supporting not only their arrival, residence permits, and other administrative procedures, but also their sociocultural connection to the environment.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION: KEYS TO THE BUSINESS FUTURE

In the context of limited growth of the local working-age population, it will be essential to incorporate international talent across all sectors. This demographic need also represents a strategic opportunity.

Activities such as our international summer welcome event in 2025, with nearly 60 participants from 17 nationalities, reflect the global dimension that our ecosystem is beginning to take. Sociocultural activities to strengthen the human connection of newcomers reinforce the sense of belonging and help build an international community connected to our territory.

Although companies with diverse teams are more innovative and have greater capacity to operate in global markets, managing diversity can be complex. At Bizkaia Talent, we promote a new culture of openness, supporting organizations in adapting their processes and accompanying them along this path.

SHOWING OURSELVES TO THE WORLD

Surprisingly, most young people in the territory are unaware of the opportunities offered by local companies. At the same time, many qualified professionals abroad do not have Biscay on their radar. That is why it is not enough to offer good conditions; they must also be communicated effectively.

At Bizkaia Talent, we promote a dual approach. On the one hand, we support companies in developing their employer brand, helping them to improve the candidate and employee experience, organizational culture, and outreach. On the other hand, we work on positioning the territory, to place Biscay on the international talent map, projecting a coherent, aspirational, and content-rich image.

This alignment is key, since talent is not only looking for jobs. It seeks purpose, well-being, and environments in which to grow. And that is precisely what Biscay can offer if it manages to articulate its proposal as an ecosystem in a joint way.

A TERRITORIAL ALLIANCE

Aware that this challenge goes beyond any single organization, it is worth highlighting that the Government of Biscay has promoted the Biscay with the Talent strategy, an alliance with the active participation of dozens of companies and local stakeholders, in which Bizkaia Talent plays a key role in reducing the STEM gap through real and coordinated commitments to activate, attract, and retain the talent Biscay needs.

Projects such as Talent Strategy, Labo-Talento for SMEs, or the Self-Diagnosis Tool in Talent Management (Autodiagnóstico en gestión del talento), led by Bizkaia Talent, are helping to professionalize people management, especially in SMEs, thus consolidating a shared culture around talent as a lever for development.

THE FUTURE IS BUILT TODAY

All in all, the efforts made in recent years have begun to bear fruit. More and more people are choosing Biscay to continue their professional careers, and more organizations are improving their ability to attract key profiles, while increasingly understanding talent as a strategic axis.

Biscay is beginning to consolidate itself as an attractive territory for talent, and this is reflected in the decisions of those who, being able to live and work in many places around the world, choose to do so here.

The coming years will be decisive. Biscay has a solid foundation: competitive industry, knowledge centers, infrastructure, quality of life… From Bizkaia Talent, we will continue working to ensure that our territory is recognized as an ecosystem where talent finds the ideal conditions to develop its full potential.

Because, in the end, talent is not just a production factor: it is the key to building a more prosperous, innovative, and inclusive society. And it is in our hands to build it together.