How To Build a Software Development Team and Hire IT Specialists in Poland
September 15, 2022
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September 26, 2022
Setting up an offshore software development center or hiring software development teams from other countries is an increasingly popular trend in the tech industry. So if you are considering hiring offshore developers, you might be wondering if Poland is a good location for IT outsourcing.
The answer is: yes, it is, for a number of reasons.
As a CEE country, Poland has a very large pool of highly-qualified tech professionals, reasonable IT salaries, and a robust and stable economy (Poland is a member of the EU and NATO). All these factors translate into excellent conditions for the creation of top-notch centers for modern business services and continue to attract investors from all over the world, including such technology companies as Google, Amazon, Akamai, and Microsoft.
In this post, we will guide you, step by step, through all these factors to show you that Poland is a great choice for an offshore software development team.
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Poland as a top IT outsourcing destination
Key facts & figures
1. Size of the IT talent pool in Poland
- Poland has a talent pool of around 400,000 IT specialists (source: Polish Investment & Trade Agency, Export Promotion Portal).
- Every year, Polish universities produce over 70,000 STEM graduates, including over 13,000 ICT graduates.
- In Q2 2022, Poland’s most popular job boards (inhire.io, pracuj.pl, nofluffjobs.com, justjoin.it) published over 26,000 job offers.
- The importance of having a well-defined branding strategy is growing. If you want to recruit tech professionals from Poland, you will need to find a way to distinguish yourself from around 4000 various companies, many of which are at least partially foreign-owned.
“Poland has the largest IT expert pool in the Central and Eastern Europe region. With that quantity comes high quality. Poland consistently ranks as one of the top three countries with the world’s best programmers” the Forbes magazine wrote.
This fact is further supported by the rankings by HackerRank and by official statistics (see below).
2. Leading technologies in Poland
By far the most in-demand programming languages are JavaScript, Java, and Python, and the upper end of the salary range in jobs requiring these technologies continue to grow (at 5%, 9.6%, and 8.4% respectively in Q2 2022 compared with Q1).
The top six most in-demand programming languages in Poland are:
- JavaScript – 23% of all job offers
- Java – 19%
- Python – 16%
- TypeScript – 13%
- C# – 8%
- PHP – 6%
The highest-paying technologies are Scala and Java. Detailed IT salaries by roles are described in the section “Salaries of IT professionals in Poland”.
3. Polish IT specialists: qualifications and expectations
Language & tech skills and work culture
- Polish IT professionals expect to work remotely
The COVID-19 pandemic has showed that remote work is here to stay. This also holds true for software developers in Poland, who are accustomed to working remotely. According to a Q2 2022 report by inhire.io, listings with remote working options account for 76% of all job listings for tech professionals in Poland, and this share continues to grow. For this reason, you should not try forcing developers to relocate or to work onsite. Interestingly, other surveys from Q1 2022 confirm that among Polish professionals working in business service centers (also outside the IT sector), over 90% can work remotely, of which 70% work remotely all or most of the time. For this reason, offering IT specialists access to an office workspace is a good idea, but they don’t treat it a “must have.” Software developers should be able to decide if they want to work from the office or from home, and when. - Good salary ranges come first
The share of job listings with salary ranges in all job postings in Poland is growing, but not very rapidly (an increase from 29% in Q1 2020 to 40% in Q2 2022). Polish programmers are likely to immediately reject offers without salary ranges and to refuse to take part in job interviews for such roles. Failure to provide pay ranges significantly lowers your chances to recruit top talent, and sometimes even makes this impossible. - Excellent English and international experience
Polish IT specialists speak very good English, and Poland is ranked 16th in the world (14th in Europe) by the EF EPI ranking (English Proficiency Index – the world’s largest ranking of countries and regions by English skills). A vast majority of Polish programmers are likewise open to working in international and multicultural teams, and often have international experience. - A strong focus on STEM and a proactive approach
Importantly, STEM education is well-developed in Poland (Polish universities produced 71,779 STEM graduates in the academic year 2020–2021), and people have a deeply-ingrained problem-solving attitude (it may have been influenced by the need to grapple with numerous difficulties in the era of communist rule). This is confirmed by the PISA Mathematics tests and the International Mathematical Olympiad, where Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Moldova, and other Eastern European countries typically achieve the best results. To find out more, read Humeo’s article 9 Programming Competitions: What Should You Look For in a Resume? - Very good technical education and top-notch programming skills
In the previous academic year (2020–2021), Polish universities produced 13,392 ICT graduates. In Poland, university education is free. Tech universities (such as the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków) have and continue to develop direct partnerships with Polish tech companies, which offer internships and jobs to students. Every year, Polish universities produce a large talent pool of well-educated IT specialists with first-hand experience in the tech industry.
As a result of very good education combined with early work experience, Polish programmers are regarded as some of the best in the world. It is no coincidence that one of Humeo’s clients once said: “Polish programmers are five times more effective than our team from the United States.”
4. Salaries of IT professionals in Poland
Based on Humeo’s experience as a leading IT recruitment agency in Poland and job advertisements on such websites as Inhire.io, Just Join IT and No Fluff Jobs
Examples of recommended salary ranges for senior IT specialists working remotely (data from Q3/2022 | updated on a quarterly basis):
| The role | B2B = net/month | UoP = employment contract, gross/month** |
| *Backend Developer | B2B: up to PLN 30,000 UoP: up to PLN 26,000 |
| Frontend Developer | B2B: up to PLN 28,500 UoP: up to PLN 23,500 |
| *Mobile Developer | B2B: up to PLN 27,500 UoP: up to PLN 22,500 |
| DevOps Engineer | B2B: up to PLN 37,000 UoP: up to PLN 32,500 |
| QA/Testing | B2B: up to PLN 24,000 UoP: up to PLN 20,500 |
| Project Manager | B2B: up to PLN 24,000 UoP: up to PLN 18,500 |
| Product Owner | B2B: up to PLN 30,000 UoP: up to PLN 25,000 |
| Security Engineer | B2B: up to PLN 27,000 UoP: up to PLN 25,500 |
* the actual pay levels may vary slightly depending on the programming language required in a specific job
** read more: The Guide to Hiring IT Developers in Poland: All You Need To Know About B2B and Employment Contracts
5. The largest IT centers in Poland
Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City area (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot), Katowice and Metropolis GZM, Poznań, Łódź
Modern business service centers in major cities in Poland according to a report by Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL) [data from Q1 2022]:
- Warsaw – 330 centers
- Kraków – 261
- Wrocław – 208
- Tri-City area (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot) – 184
- Katowice and Metropolis GZM – 126
- Poznań – 125
- Łódź – 101
IT centers accounted for the largest share of new investments made in 2021 (26.5%), followed by SSC/GBS (24.5%), R&D (20.4%), and BPO (18.4%).
These centers have been established chiefly by foreign investors. Of these, 20.4% were American, 16.3% were German, and 12.2% were Japanese. In total, Poland has modern business service centers from 46 countries of the world. Of these, the American centers are responsible for more than 112,000 jobs.
The most commonly used programming languages (Q1 2022) are: Java (78.8%), Python (76%), and Javascript (72.1%). The programming languages that will be in the highest demand by Q1 2023 in business service centers in Poland are Java, Python, and Javascript.
Job openings for programmers by city (according to a report by inhire.io):
- Warsaw – 6526;
- Kraków – 3634;
- Wrocław – 3239;
- Poznań – 1888;
- Gdańsk – 1781.
Remote working has become the norm in modern business service centers. Among those working there:
- 24.1% work full-time remotely;
- 46.2% work remotely most of the time (with the possibility of working onsite);
- 20.4% work in a hybrid model;
- 5.3% work mainly onsite, with remote work being possible in exceptional situations;
- 4% only work onsite.
Importantly, the growing popularity of remote work allows you to offer a more attractive salary regardless of location. As companies cut back on office space to save money, even smaller centers such as Bialystok offered IT professionals some of the highest salaries in Poland in Q2 2022. Such cities as Kraków, Poznań, and Gdańsk were ahead of Warsaw in terms of salary levels. Similarly, foreign companies may offer programmers higher salaries without requiring them to relocate or work onsite.
Read the Guide
6. Poland’s membership in NATO and the EU = stability and security
Poland has been a member of the European Union since 2005, and joined NATO in 1999. As the first country from the former Eastern bloc, Poland was recognized in 2018 by the Russell Index (run by the Financial Times Stock Exchange, or FTSE) as belonging to the group of developed economies. Equally importantly, Poland was described by US news as “[t]he country that experienced economic growth even during the recent global financial crisis.”
For those who want to set up a software development center in the CEE region, Poland is now also one of the best alternatives to Ukraine. Unlike such CEE countries as Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, Poland enjoys the security umbrella afforded by NATO. In turn, migrations from the former Soviet Union countries are driving up economic growth in Poland.
In addition to a considerable talent pool, Poland also offers foreign investors a high level of security and stability and good conditions for growth:
- Poland is ranked 30th in the world in the Global Entrepreneurship Index.
- The official government websites (gov.pl) lists recently introduced new tax incentives for foreign investors:
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- There are more than 3000 startups, more than 130 venture capital firms, and more than 100 business accelerators and incubators in Poland (Source: Startup Universal).
- Poland ranks first in terms of the number of “unicorn startups” in Central and Eastern Europe according to the report by Google and Dealroom: “Coming of age: Central and Eastern European startups”:
- According to rankings by the London-based firm fDi Intelligence, owned by The Financial Times, Poland is a European leader in terms of the size of foreign direct investment.
- An interesting fact: in the fintech industry in Central and Eastern Europe, the largest value of funding rounds was reported for companies located in Estonia and Poland. In 2021 and until Q3 2022 (data as at 12 September 2022, source: Dealroom), they reached the following values:
| Country | 2021 | 2022 till September 12th |
| Estonia | $124m | $247.4m |
| Poland | $107 | $29m |
| Hungary | $20.2m | $95.8m |
| Lithuania | $24.4m | $66.5m |
| Russia | $39.8m | $1.6m |
| Romania | $20.7m | $4.1m |
| Ukraine | $0.6m | $6.3m |
Value of funding rounds in Poland
fintech industry, January 2021 – September 2022
In addition, Poland continues to develop in the area of innovation and cybersecurity:
- According to Global Cybersecurity Exposure Index 2020, Poland was classified as a low-risk country and ranked 16th in Europe and 23rd in the world in terms of countries that are the least exposed to cybercrime.
- Poland ranks 23rd in the list of the world’s most innovative countries according to such indicators as: R&D intensity, manufacturing value-added, productivity, high-tech density, tertiary efficiency, researcher concentration, and patent activity (up by two spots in 2021 compared with 2020).
Poland versus other popular IT outsourcing destinations
All in all, programmers in Poland are offered slightly higher salaries than in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe (or popular non-European IT outsourcing destinations, such as India and the Philippines). However, this translates into significant benefits such as the ease of doing business, a more robust and reliable economy, an excellent infrastructure, and one of the world’s best tech talent pools.
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7. Poland’s infrastructure
Business centers, office space, transportation – airports
BUSINESS CENTERS IN POLAND
According to an ABSL report, Poland’s top three business centers (cities with modern business service centers) in Q1 2022 were:
- 1. Tri-City area (Gdańsk, Gdynia, Sopot)
- 2. Warsaw
- 3. Kraków
OFFICE INFRASTRUCTURE IN POLAND
“In 2021, the total supply in nine key office space markets in Poland exceeded 12 million m2. The share of office space in the main regional markets (Kraków, Wrocław, the Tri-City area, Łódź, Poznań, Metropolis GZM, Lublin, and Szczecin) is already almost equal to the total modern office supply in Warsaw” – we can find this information in the summary of 2021 and forecasts for 2022 on the economic website egospodarka.
AIR TRAFFIC IN POLAND
Poland has a total of 15 airports with a total of 297,648 flight operations in 2021 (compared with 444,661 operations and 49,013,538 passengers served in 2019, before the pandemic). These airports are:
- WAW: Warsaw Chopin Airport / in Warsaw
- GDN: Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport / in Gdańsk
- PZN: Poznań-Ławica Airport / in Poznań
- KRK: Kraków Airport / in Balice
- KTW: Katowice Airport / in Ożarowice
- WRO: Wrocław Airport / in Wrocław
- RZE: Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport / in Jasionka
- LCJ: Lodz Airport / in Łódź
Smaller airports in: Bydgoszcz, Warsaw-Modlin, Świdnik, Szczecin, Szymany, Nowy Kramsk, and Radom (the latter is temporarily closed).
Importantly, Polish airports are connected to Western Europe through a fixed network of airline connections (Wizzair, Ryanair, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian, Finnair, and other major European airlines).
In conclusion, Poland is an excellent destination for foreign companies that want to set up a software development center in the CEE region to benefit from lower costs (office space, legislation, salaries) and a top-class infrastructure. Poland understands the needs of today’s world and adapts quickly to modern challenges, which is confirmed by the fact that over half of the capital invested in the CEE region goes to Poland, and the country ranks second in Central and Eastern Europe in terms of fintech startup funding rounds and first in terms of the number of “unicorn startups.”
Read also:
8. Examples of tech companies based in Poland
The fact that Poland is a good location for an IT hub is demonstrated by the presence of many tech giants and well-known brands.
Well-known companies based in Poland include:
- Amazon
- Microsoft
- Akamai
- IBM
- Intel
- Motorola
- Oracle
- Uber
- Cisco
- Sabre
- Fujitsu
- Capgemini
- Samsung
Poland is an excellent choice for tech companies regardless of their size. These include both multinational corporations (Google, Amazon, and Microsoft), well-known brands of Polish origin (such as Asseco, PGS Software, and Comarch), and startups that were established and continue to develop in Poland (DocPlanner, Brainly, Estimote, Allegro, and so on).
9. Extra tips: why is Poland a top location for IT outsourcing?
- 1. Poland has a huge tech talent pool. This is due to the presence of excellent higher education institutions, which produce more than 70,000 STEM graduates a year and work closely with tech companies.
- 2. Polish programmers rank among the best in the world. It is no coincidence that they were ranked 3rd in the world by HackerRank, and Polish students win well-known programming competitions (9 Programming Competitions: What Should You Look For in a Resume?).
- 3. Hiring Polish IT specialists translates into top quality at reasonable rates. For example, the salary of a Senior Java Developer (remote position) in Poland is around PLN 30,000 (EUR 6,400) per month (net of VAT under a B2B contract).
To find out more about different forms of employment, read Humeo’s guide:
- 4. Poland, as a country located in Central Europe, can be seen as a cultural and economic bridge between the East and the West. In addition, its strategic location on the map of Europe makes it a great transportation hub. As one of our clients put it, Poland is “the holy grail” in terms of costs, time zone differences, work ethics, and cultural similarity to most of the European countries.
- 5. Poland is an excellent choice for companies interested in hiring software developers for a nearshore or offshore IT team, with major IT players choosing to scale up their businesses in this way. The tech companies that have their R&D centers in Poland include Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Akamai, Cisco, and many more.
Summary
You already know the key facts about the Polish IT market, including the size of the talent pool, salaries of IT professionals, and the business infrastructure. This should give you a general idea about the benefits from creating a software development center in Poland. Many tech and non-tech companies have already taken this step. Now it’s your turn! 🙂
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