Hiring IT talent in CEE has recently gained traction, with an increasing number of organizations open to hiring IT professionals further afield with nearshoring operations in countries such as Poland, Romania, and Ukraine. This should come as no surprise as Central and Eastern European developers are famous for their work ethic, professionalism, and efficiency. Moreover, year after year, they are regarded as the world’s most knowledgeable and well-versed IT professionals.

If you want to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of talent sourcing in CEE, check out our previous post: How much does cost tech talent in CEE? A detailed salary comparison

Before you start hiring in CEE

Before you start the process of nearshoring to the CEE it’s crucial to know the models from which you can choose. Each of them has pros and cons. They differ not only in the price you pay for an IT service but also in the level of your direct involvement and compliance. 

1. Setting up your own company in CEE 

You could just set up your own company in CEE. This solution has one considerable advantage – you control the situation and have endless opportunities of hiring IT specialists for your business. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. You need to deepen your knowledge regarding the legal situation, conditions on the ground along with having some experience in international operations. 

If you want to lessen your direct engagement, you can always benefit from the assistance of the Big Four. With their help, you will avoid common pitfalls as they can help you with taxation, market research and legal advisory. 

If you are considering establishing a company in Poland, you can always use ABSL services. ABSL helps in introducing a company to the market and takes care of all the formalities connected to the process. Moreover, having enough data and collaborating with experts is fundamental to avoiding problems. Stratigence is our partner and can assist a company setting up a branch in CEE. 

A hiring agency may help you

If you don’t feel ready yet to set up a company in CEE you may prefer to use the services of a hiring agency. Many enterprises such as Hays, Randstad, Adecco offer highly-qualified software developers from all over the world. 

If this solution doesn’t suit you, there’s also Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) which is a business model that involves searching for an employee using a third-party expert. It’s a high-quality and efficient solution –  reducing the time of the hiring process by up to 40%. The main drawback is that the agency you could choose may have little knowledge in your field of expertise, which can cause some problems in, for example, taxation and legal fields. 

2. Finding a go-between and hiring according to local rules

Another solution worth mentioning is finding a tech go-between. It’s a convenient option in legal terms – you have the guarantee that these companies know the law and that they will correctly draw up an agreement with IT professionals. Always keep in mind that they will not always be ready to assist you in settling bonuses, insurance, and PTO. Each go-between may also propose a different salary model. 

3. Choosing an HR outsourcer

If you prefer to collaborate with an external IT provider, you can choose from a wide range of specialists such as Epam, Capgemini, Accenture, or Luxoft. HR outsourcers are an excellent solution as they are well prepared to help you find an optimal IT team for your needs. Unfortunately, the quality comes with the price, you pay much more than for other options, but you will have the guarantee that this process will be trouble-free.

You can always choose a smaller HR outsourcer operating on a regional scale. However, if you want to hire tech employees in several CEE markets this might prove to be more complex than other solutions. 

4. Good source: Talent marketplace platform

Talent marketplace platforms represent the most innovative approach to hiring in CEE. These platforms such as Fuel50, SAP, TalentLyft, and Talent Alpha have strong positions in the market. The greatest advantage of the talent marketplace is the flexibility of conditions and the price, which is lower than that of HR outsourcers. 

Talent Alpha has 50,000 IT specialists in the talent pool from over 750 vetted tech talent providers across all CEE. Our platform offers peace of mind by securing all transactions as well as contracts according to the law. The Talent Alpha platform can even provide an entire IT team that can begin work within days. 

Now that you know the cooperation models, you may wonder how much it costs to nearshore in CEE. You can find a descriptive analysis in Talent Alpha’s post about IT wages in CEE. It will hopefully make things clearer for you.

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