For over twenty years, Eastern European countries such as Ukraine, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania, have aided the United States, Western Europe, and Australia in reducing talent gaps.
Throughout the years, Eastern European programmers have developed a reputation for being precise, goal-oriented, and highly talented experts. However, there is more.
We’ll examine the most critical variables that have contributed to an increase in demand for Eastern European programmers among Western European firms in this article.
Continue reading to see why Eastern European developers are an excellent match for businesses worldwide.
Top reasons for employing Eastern European developers
- a big number of highly experienced programmers
- English-fluent programmers are in great demand.
- Massive technical skill pools brimming with both common and unusual abilities
- A tremendous price-to-value ratio
- Cultural ties between the United States and Western Europe
- Superior technical education
- Extensive experience with outsourcing
- Eastern European countries’ information technology markets are expanding.
- Monthly working hours equivalent to those in the United States, a convenient location, and a minimal or non-existent time difference with the majority of Western European countries
- Cost savings on infrastructure and reduced internet pricing
- Eastern European Developers Possess Extensive Experience
The days of hiring low-cost entry-level professionals from Eastern Europe are over.
Nowadays, Eastern European programmers consistently rank among the world’s finest coders. For example, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, and Romania have all cracked the top 20 of HackerRank’s ranking of the world’s greatest coders.
- Developers rank countries
Developers from five Eastern European nations also earned spots on SkillValue’s list of the world’s top countries with the greatest programmers: the Czech Republic came in fifth, Ukraine came in fourth, Hungary came in third, Poland came in second, and Slovakia came in first.
- Eastern European Developers Have a High Level of English Proficiency
In comparison to the general population, programmers have a much better level of English. For example, around 85% of programmers in Ukraine have an intermediate or higher level of English proficiency.
Eastern European nations topped the list of 30 countries with high proficiency ratings in the EF English Proficiency Index.
Hungary is ranked 14th (#12/34 in Europe) out of 100 counties/regions, Poland is 16th (#14/34), Romania is 17th (#15/34), Slovakia is 22nd (#20/34), and the Czech Republic is 19th (#17/34).
One reason programmers in Eastern Europe speak such excellent English is that most IT firms provide English training as part of their employee benefits package.
Additionally, it is fairly uncommon for programmers with varying degrees of language acquisition to take individual and group sessions with native English speakers.
All of these activities are aimed at reducing misunderstanding and enhancing the English language abilities of technical professionals.
Additionally, people aspiring to work in the technology business are well aware that English proficiency is a must for the majority of professions, and hence devote significant time to language acquisition while still in college.
- Eastern European Developers Possess Both Common and Unusual Skill Sets
Around 1.3 million Eastern European developers and technology experts live in the CEE area.
Poland tops the list with over 400,000 tech professionals, followed by Ukraine with over 200,000 IT specialists. Following that is Romania, which now has 139,000 software developers.
The Czech Republic is close behind with 130,000 software developers, relegating Hungary to fifth place on the list of Eastern European nations with the most developers.
Along with a large number of Eastern European developers who write in popular languages such as JavaScript, Python, and PHP, there are also a significant number of software engineers who work in C++, C#, and other languages.
- An Excellent Price-to-Value Ratio
It is not an exaggeration to suggest that Eastern European programmers contribute significantly to the development of technology products for Western European, American, and Australian technology businesses.
Their knowledge is more affordable than that of their counterparts in more established technology countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, or Germany.
This translates into the following figures: on average, an Eastern European software developer costs between $30 and $65 per hour of labor.
- Cultural proximity to the United States and Western Europe Contrary to common opinion, all Eastern European nations’ technology sectors have a corporate culture that is extremely similar, if not identical, to that of Western Europe.
And there is a reason for this: hundreds of technology start-ups have been formed in Ukraine, Poland, and Hungary by entrepreneurs from Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, and other Western nations.
Numerous more were started by entrepreneurs from Ukraine, Hungary, or Poland with a global mentality and experience working on ground-breaking Western technology enterprises.
Due to its relative youth, rapid development, and inventive character, the technology industry has grown in many nations in relative isolation from other sectors – in the best possible sense.
Almost every technical company was modeled after ones that existed in Western European nations prior.
If you’ve ever visited a technical firm in Eastern Europe, you’ll note that management and staff communicate in a similar manner and have similar views on work-life balance.
- Eastern European developers have an excellent technical education.
The great majority of programmers in Eastern Europe have technical degrees. Indeed, some Eastern European nations, have a higher proportion of scientific graduates than countries with a reputation for innovation, such as Japan, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
Each year, around 80,000 students complete their studies at Poland’s 23 technical institutions. Each year, 65 institutions in Hungary award degrees to almost 6,000 technology graduates.
The overall number of students enrolled in higher education institutions in Poland increased to 1.20 million for the academic year 2019––2020. On the other side, the number of students studying ICT has decreased to around 63,000.
- Eastern European programmers have vast expertise with outsourcing.
66% of Dutch and 7% of German technology companies outsource software development to Eastern Europe. Meanwhile, Dutch firms prefer to collaborate with programmers from the following countries:
- Ukraine has a 14% stake.
- Poland has a 9% stake.
- Romania has a 9% stake.
- Eastern European nations are advancing technologically at a breakneck pace.
By the end of 2021, the Eastern European region’s IT outsourcing market is predicted to exceed $8 billion. Poland ($2 billion), and the Czech Republic ($1 billion) have the greatest technology markets.
A Synopsis of the Polish Information and Communication Technology Market
- The bulk of ICT revenue is derived from the sale of computer hardware, information technology services, and software distribution.
Each year, the IT outsourcing industry increases at a pace of between 5% and 10%. - Already accounting for 3.3 percent of the country’s GDP, the information technology industry is expected to grow to 3.5 percent by 2021.
- There are eight developers for every 1,000 persons in Poland.
The Bulgarian IT Outsourcing Market: Key Statistics
- By the end of 2021, the ICT industry has contributed 7.9 percent of Bulgaria’s GDP.
- Bulgarian IT businesses pay taxes at a rate of 0.7 percent of their income.
Information on the Czech Republic’s Information Technology Outsourcing Market
- The Czech Republic’s ICT exports have surpassed $1.78 billion.
- The Czech Republic ranks 27th out of 82 nations in terms of total technological capability.
- The government spends 2% of GDP on technology and is one of the top twenty countries in terms of technology sector growth.
- In the Czech Republic, there are ten developers for every 1,000 people.
Statistics on IT Outsourcing to Romania
- The Romanian IT market is estimated to be worth €1 billion.
- The ICT market is growing at a rate of 15% each year.
- The Romanian technology market is dominated by foreign investors, who account for 70% of the market.
- Every year, Romanian IT businesses make revenues of €50 million.
- In Romania, there are six programmers for every 1,000 people.
The Essentials of the Hungarian IT Outsourcing Market
- Enterprises in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany contribute 66 percent of overall income in Hungary.
- Year after year, the value of ICT increases by 6–8%.
- By the end of 2021, the Hungarian ICT market is estimated to reach $2.8 billion.
- In Hungary, there are nine developers for every 1,000 people.
- Eastern European Programmers Are One Hour Ahead of the Rest of Europe and Eastern European programmers are just a 1–2 hour flight away from Western European countries.
In other words, they share seven of the nine business hours. Eastern European countries also have a seven-hour time difference with the East Coast, which implies that US companies share more working hours with Eastern European employees than with employees from India, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Eastern European programmers work the same hours as their American colleagues, between 40 and 60 hours per week.
In contrast, programmers in the United Kingdom work 36.04 hours per week and 32.77 hours per week in Germany.
Employees in the majority of Eastern European countries have 11–13 generally recognized public holidays, with the significant exception of Bulgaria, which has 19.
Eastern Europe is also readily reached. A direct flight from Western Europe’s major technological hubs to crucial Eastern European towns takes around 2–3 hours. A trip from New York would take around seven hours, which is still very feasible for an American business executive who wants to meet with his Eastern European developers.
- Reduced Infrastructure Costs and Cheaper Internet Access
All Eastern European countries have a high rate of adoption of fixed-line internet connections and related services. Bulgaria has the highest rate of adoption (39.5%), while Poland has a rate of 20.8 percent.
According to the EDCi rankings, Bucharest (30th), Riga (32nd), and Vilnius (29th) are the top three cities in the CEE region for digital infrastructure. With all of this in mind, the question is hopefully no longer why, but how to outsource to Eastern Europe.