The software company Red Hat is expanding the development centre at its Brno branch.

The company is therefore planning to employ an additional 150 engineers to join its current staff of 300 developers and other employees. Red Hat will thus have the world’s biggest development facility. The company received aid for the project from the European Union’s Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation in the amount of CZK 100 million; the total invest amount is CZK 278 million.

According to Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kocourek, this type of investment brings higher value added: “Primarily, investments in development centres represent job opportunities for professionals in these fields and, of course, they help the Czech Republic to succeed in international competition. We therefore support this type of investment with CzechInvest.”

“Our statistics indicate that the Czech Republic is very interesting for ICT firms,” says Miroslav Křížek, CEO of CzechInvest, adding: “In 2010 CzechInvest helped to implement 209 investment projects in the Czech Republic in the total value of more than CZK 16 billion. Nearly 40% of those companies invested in information technologies and software development.”

“Red Hat’s project received aid within the ICT and Business Support Services Programme, which has supported 265 projects in the total value of more than CZK 3.8 billion since 2007,” says Petr Očko, director of the EU funds, research and development section at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Radovan Musil, director of the Brno development centre,explains why Red Hat decided to invest in South Moravia: “Brno has an ideal position primarily due to the presence of two top-level universities. But we are approaching engineers from the whole country. The proximity to Slovakia, from which many high-quality people come to us, is also an important factor.”

Czech engineers have worked for Red Hat since 2004 on community projects. In June 2006, the American firm established a separate Czech branch. According to the company, the current expansion of the development centre in Brno is proof that, among other things, the Czech Republic has talented people that are worth keeping. The Brno facility is currently involved in the development and testing of all main products and, to a significant extent, the operating system.

The expansion of Red Hat’s development centre began in December 2010. The company plans to recruit new employees over the course of two years. It is interested primarily in engineers specialising in programming and quality control of software.

The new employees will work on improving and further developing existing as well as completely new products – Red Hat supplies software to other firms on a subscription basis provides support and upgrades, and certifies applications. The company’s approach toward employees is documented by the fact that Red Hat received the Progressive Employer of the Year 2010 and Best Employers 2010/2011 awards.