Background
Born in South Korea, Byung Kim spent most of his life in the United States, obtaining a finance degree from the University of Texas in Austin. In 2002, he joined ExxonMobil, gaining finance and leadership experience in postings across the States and on an assignment to Hungary from 2007 to 2011.
Kim assumed his current role as lead country manager and lead controller at ExxonMobil Hungary in June 2022, where he heads a dynamic organization of 2,000-plus employees. Kim enjoys playing golf and traveling with his family in his free time.
He says he is excited to return to Hungary, where he met his wife during his previous assignment. “We are very much enjoying this new chapter of our lives with our two young children,” Kim says.
How has Hungary’s business services sector developed since you became involved with it?
My involvement with Hungary’s business services sector dates back to the inception of ExxonMobil’s presence in Hungary back in 2004. While I was not located here, I worked closely with colleagues from Budapest at the time to understand its key performance indicators, which were predominantly focused on transactional activities. Flash forward 20 years from that period, and it’s quite remarkable the growth and maturity that has developed over that time. The degree of complexity and accretive value of the services we provide today were unimaginable many years ago. It’s a testament to the highly skilled and capable talent pool that continues to provide a competitive value proposition to companies around the world.
Do you have any concerns regarding workforce availability? Are you able to get everyone you need? Are there untapped labor sources, or are you by now simply poaching from rival BSCs (and vice versa)?
With the evolution and maturation of the global labor market, companies are looking to elevate the quality of opportunities, not only for Hungary but also for countries with growing talent pools. At ExxonMobil Hungary, we continue to see the supply of quality opportunities, and more importantly, our upskilling and development position us to source the talent demand largely from within. We have been able to complement the deep expertise across finance, commercial and IT disciplines with the digital, innovation, and change management capabilities through enriching internal program offerings. Where we see the need for niche skills and experiences externally, we have been able to source the talent in the market.
Do you have any concerns about the language and other skills of the workforce? Is upskilling an issue?
As a US-based company, a strong command of English is fundamental to our operations, as it is our official working language. We have no concerns regarding the proficiency level of English among our candidates.
We also have a robust and advanced program designed to equip our employees with the skills needed for the future, called Digital Innovation Program (DIP). This program emphasizes new technologies, innovation, and creative thinking to support informed business decisions. People can progress the courses based on their pace and interests.
Are you involved in any university or school collaborations to mold the curriculum and make sure the system produces people with the skills you need?
We see significant value in the cooperation with the education system in Hungary, whether that be top tier universities in Hungary or local high schools in partnership with exceptional organizations like Junior Achievement Hungary. An example is the annual Sci-Tech Challenge competition with high schools where student teams compete in a sustainability or energy transition case study challenge. The winning school has the opportunity to compete in Brussels in ExxonMobil Europe’s regional competition.
We have also signed strategic cooperation agreements with universities where we actively engage with students and faculty, providing insights on the skills and capabilities needed to compete in the market.
How do you see the Hungarian BSS market developing in the next 5-10 years?
We will likely see a continued maturation and evolution of the market towards higher value-added positions, with companies continuing to make investments in digital and innovation capabilities. These investments will likely drive efficiencies and higher productivity levels where we may not see the same growth in numbers we saw over the past 10 years but continue to see the higher value-added positions find their way here. What we have to recognize is that this is a global competition where our workforce in Hungary will compete in an increasingly competitive global environment.
Are there any specific changes you would like to see from the government to improve the situation for BSCs?
Maintaining a highly-educated and skilled pipeline of talent will be an important enabler for the continued development of the sector, but the ability to retain existing talent in the market will be important as well. Companies have invested significant resources to upskill and develop talent, and stable policies that enable us to retain that talent will be critical.
This article was first published in the Top Executives – The Most Influential Business Services Executives in Hungary 2025 print issue of February 17, 2025.
