N26: fueling smooth expansion with scalable multi-entity mobility

With a team of over 1,500 diverse talents representing more than 80 nationalities, N26 embodies the power of global hiring. Founded in Berlin, the company has grown to serve more than 8 million customers in 24 countries. This impressive reach speaks to N26’s commitment to international expansion fueled by a globalized workforce.

A solution for growth

In 2021, N26 discovered the limitations of their existing relocation process and mobility solution. “It was not manageable for us at a point simply because it was quite a manual process, we were mainly using emails and, of course, that was quite labor-intensive. The process ended up quite long and it wasn't really an employee-friendly experience for the candidates”, shares Karolina Stawińska, Senior People Operations Partner.

The company needed a mobility solution that offered diversified packages, was scalable, user-friendly, and could be expanded to multiple locations. N26 found that solution in Jobbatical - “We had Interviews and case studies with other stakeholders. However, in the end, we decided Jobbatical had the experience, the tools, and pretty great people behind it”, says Karolina. 

What started as a partnership with N26 Germany then expanded to support the company’s offices in Spain, Netherlands, Austria, and Italy. Jonathan Fuentes, People Operations, highlights how “switching back and forth between entities is just seamless” with the Jobbatical platform’s “entity split” feature - “it really does a great job of organizing employees for each entity, but also at offering a broader view across different countries, access to individual reports, and understanding what entities require more input. We are working as a unit but of course, we report and act on the entity level, it’s very important to get that vision”. 

Giving People Operations back their time

Collaborating with Jobbatical has significantly reduced the workload for People Operations at N26, through features like automatic case updates, document depository, and case record - “we don't have to keep track of cases because Jobbatical is already on top of it and proactively reaches out to us. This is taking a huge amount off our shoulders” says Karolina. 

The transparency offered during the process also reduces time spent providing employees with direct support - “visa and permit waiting times was something that we got a lot of questions about from employees.” Karolina explains. 

“The platform gives oversight not only to People Operations but to the recruiter and to the candidate. When you input a candidate or an employee, I really like that it provides ownership on both ends. Employees can check their progress, have an idea of what they can expect moving forward, contact their agent right away,  they don't have to rely too much on us. Of course, we do our part and it's nice that we have two-way communication, but I really like that they have this transparency.” adds Jonathan. 

Cost transparency meets cost-effectiveness

Karolina shares how Jobbatical’s FlexyPocket - a balance and cost management solution - offers a transparent view of spending. She notes, “There's full visibility over our FlexyPocket and we're very much informed if, for instance, the initial assessment shows a 1,500€ but, in the end, the cost is smaller, the difference is returned to our account. This is very helpful and something that maybe doesn’t happen elsewhere”. 

This level of cost transparency translates into additional time savings for N26’s People Operations team, as it eliminates the need to generate mobility cost reports. Karolina elaborates, “Management can see where the money is going, how it’s being invested, it’s all mentioned in the cases”. Jonathan shares how the team is reassured knowing that when a new case is added, 'it’ll be handled and taken care of. It takes a lot of time out of our HR processes. I would say it's a very cost-effective and reliable solution'."

A partnership that keeps growing

Karolina emphasizes how the overwhelmingly positive experiences among both talents and the N26 team were the driving force behind Jobbatical's transition from being a Germany-only solution to becoming a provider across all N26 offices. She reflects, “In 2021, I was the one implementing the project to expand and the reason why I was pushing for Jobbatical to become a provider across all our offices was simply because the satisfaction rate for both employees and People Partners in Germany was so great. So I think that should speak for itself. We're now happily using Jobbatical in all of our other locations”.

As the partnership between N26 and Jobbatical continues to evolve, so do the platform and services provided. Karolina notes, “When we have any suggestions for improvements, we bring them up in our calls with Jobbatical, and they're almost immediately acted upon”.

Beyond optimizing the relocation process for both N26 and its talents, Jonathan emphasizes how Jobbatical fosters more than just a client-service relationship; it has truly established a partnership. He shares “I think when it comes to relocation or just anything to do with immigration law, it can be a very complicated and time-consuming process. I think that Jobbatical does a great job of reducing that impact. I really feel like they're part of our team even though we're two separate companies. I always feel like it's an open-door policy, we can always come to them if we have any issues or problems or just in our meetings just to catch up and see how progress is going and it just makes it headache-free, pretty much”.