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From offices in Bangalore to Bogota, and Barcelona to Bangkok, travel tech firm Amadeus is a global business to the core.
But what does this mean for employees who increasingly value career pivots and the opportunity to be mobile across global teams?
Ana Doval, SVP of People & Culture at Amadeus, speaks with HR Grapevine to outline a range of impactful talent mobility strategies in place at the business, including a ‘Global Skills Analysis’ and a remarkable career hub, which led to 21% of employees changing roles or getting promoted last year alone.
Have you found employees or candidates are increasingly expecting more career development and mobility?
Yes, I have seen this firsthand, particularly in the technology industry, where people's skills need to evolve as technology does. Training is seen as a mechanism for career development for employees to remain competitive.
We saw this sentiment echoed in recent research we commissioned and published in our ‘Innovating the Culture of Tomorrow’ report. 2,200 tech professionals were asked how many career pivots they thought would be needed to keep up with new and emerging technologies. Nearly one in five anticipate at least four career changes lie ahead for them, and 94% said that they see career changes ahead and will leave if they don’t feel they are getting access to enough training.
Are there any key shifts in employee expectations beyond more training?
Beyond career development, I’ve also observed how employees increasingly expect support for wellbeing in the workplace, particularly over the last five years, as the way that we work has changed so dramatically.
There is a real need for wellbeing programs within organizations at both local and global levels, in which key topics such as burnout prevention, mental health, and resilience can be discussed.
We take this approach at Amadeus and host events such as global World Mental Health Day. Last year, over 1,000 people participated in this event across 42 countries, and our Wellbeing Works program has received several external recognitions.
What other business pressures are there for driving employee development currently?
The rapid development of technology is undoubtedly one pressure driving the need for continuous learning, as well as the talent shortages and skills gaps that can happen because of this rapid growth.
Organizations need to provide quick upskilling to remain relevant and to retain talent. Hybrid and remote working have also added new pressures to ensure that employees have continuous learning, no matter where they are. Additionally, the expectations of both customers and employees continue to expand as we expect highly personalized experiences.
How do you create an engaging learning experience for staff?
By providing the most innovative and advanced technology to enable our employees to realize their potential. We have a state-of-the-art learning platform that gives our employees access to thousands of courses and resources to build up critical advanced tech skills, complemented by online or in-person training led by in-house Amadeus experts or external trainers.
Organizations need to provide quick upskilling to remain relevant and to retain talent
This platform is complemented by tools that allow our employees to work more efficiently. For example, since last year, we rolled out 10,000 licenses for M365 Copilot, an AI-powered tool that allows our professionals to work more efficiently and collaborate more productively.
Beyond technology, what about offering long-term growth opportunities?
We understand career development in the long term. For example, for our engineers, we ensure that they expand their knowledge over time to cover the whole tech stack. We know this is something that engineers value, rather than just becoming experts in one area.
We also believe that it is essential for organizations to offer the space and safety for teams to confidently experiment, knowing they will be supported by a culture that prizes problem-solving and critical thinking, and that enables them to bring their whole selves to work every day.
The freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them is at the heart of any learning or innovative process.
So, how do you give staff the mobility to reskill into new roles or departments?
We want our people to thrive, find fulfilment, and achieve their career goals. In terms of mobility and growth opportunities, we are global by nature, and that translates into our footprint, our processes, and our culture.
Our workforce spans over 100 offices worldwide, with 45% of our teams across multiple countries. Our people represent over 150 nationalities and speak more than 60 languages. We actively encourage and support international mobility, and many of our top leaders have moved across countries and roles too.
For example, I myself have lived and worked in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, London, Belgium, and Thailand! No matter where people are located, everyone has the opportunity to grow and develop professionally.
Can you share an example of how you make relocation or reskilling opportunities visible?
Last year we celebrated our first international Career Week, during which internal and external speakers delivered sessions on topics such as career planning, skill development, networking, and personal branding.
The objective of the Career Week was to empower our ambitious and talented employees to move and grow, and to inspire them through testimonials and insights into how other people have managed their careers.
In 2024, 21% of our employees changed roles or got promoted, showing that there is a strong culture of mobility and growth across our company.
At Amadeus, we believe that one of our most distinctive and valuable assets is the cognitive diversity of our global workforce, which fosters innovation and collective resilience in the face of any challenge.
What does this approach mean for your career structures?
Ensuring upskilling and reskilling go beyond having robust training programs. It means the company needs to clearly define the skills needed for the future, identify critical skills gaps, and communicate the importance of viewing careers from a skills perspective rather than just a job perspective.
We have been intentionally creating new skill-based career paths and have shifted to a skill-based talent management strategy over the past few years. This approach focuses on supporting our employees in building the skills the company needs while fostering their growth.
Recently, we launched the Career Hub, a tool that allows employees to build their individual career path based on their interests, and to identify the skills they need to acquire through training and various job experiences to achieve their career goals. Aligning upskilling with career development and progression is the best way to synchronize the company's and employees' interests.
What type of role do you play as a people leader in embedding a culture of skills development and career mobility?
I think that it’s key to connect personally with your teams, which is why I set aside time to visit our different sites.
Last year, I visited our offices in Bangalore, Bogota, San Jose (Costa Rica), Bangkok, Miami, Nice, Singapore, Warsaw and Istanbul. I really enjoy seeing and meeting people in person, to discuss the innovative projects they are working on, and that way I can hear about any training requests they might have first-hand.
It’s clear that people are eager to learn: sometimes they suggest certain licenses and programs that would help them to develop in a particular field, sometimes I’m shown engaging demos on cutting-edge solutions such as biometrics. I am always inspired by their passion for innovation. It’s a privilege to work alongside such forward-thinking professionals, and we are proud to support their continuous growth.
As a tech-focused business, what ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ skills are you prioritizing?
Between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, we conducted a Global Skills Analysis to identify and develop the key business-critical skills needed to achieve our strategic objectives.
Working closely with Global Business Partners, we asked teams to define the top three skills their organization needed to develop in order to achieve their strategic priorities.
We actively encourage and support international mobility, and many of our top leaders have moved across countries and roles too
After a deep analysis, we categorized the most in-demand skills to address potential gaps. Among the top soft skills identified were effective and tailored communication, storytelling and impactful presentations, influencing without authority, and consultative sales skills.
On the technical side, the most in-demand areas included Azure Learning, Cloud Fundamentals, FinOps, Skube, and AI Academy. We are now developing and aligning learning initiatives based on these priorities to support our teams in the upskilling needed to achieve Amadeus’ strategic goals.
At the same time, as we continue to grow through M&A, we are integrating new talent, exchanging knowledge, and bringing in fresh perspectives that enhance our collective expertise. This multicultural exchange strengthens our talent pool, introducing new ways of working and further enriching our skills landscape.
What recent Amadeus training programs have proved the most impactful?
In 2024, we offered a range of powerful training programs, with the top 10 reflecting strong engagement in both participation and learning hours. I’d like to highlight SHINE and Unleash the Geek as two that have had a strong impact. SHINE focuses on leadership development, preparing our employees to be future leaders. We launched this course for the first time last year, with 19% of our Senior Managers receiving the training.
Unleash The Geek is a technical program – it’s a yearly Amadeus coding game dedicated to Amadeus engineers! Last year, 1,200 engineers took part, submitting their code to compete in the game developed for Amadeus by our partner CodinGame. It’s a very popular event that receives great feedback and engagement from the participants.
These two courses are an illustration of the balance that we are permanently seeking between hard and soft skills. Both are critical.
Any final thoughts as you look ahead to 2025 and beyond?
There is nothing more rewarding as a leader than seeing team members grow professionally, evolve, and progress in their careers. I feel enormously proud of the success of our employees, and it’s through their success and development that we continue to grow and succeed as a company.
