Team Augmentation in Poland: Benefits and Market Overview

The Polish IT market is saturated with both local and foreign companies. The service and product areas are growing here, and a large number of new startups are emerging. It is a dynamic and multicultural environment. Today, Poland, with a population of 38 million people, employs about 430,000 IT talents, has more than 50,000 IT companies, and last year’s market volume was estimated at $17.5 billion by Computerworld experts.

Poland has one of the most advanced IT sectors among the 23 Central and Eastern European countries. There are more than 50 thousand software development companies here, and more than 800 of them are focused on the international market. The local market is dynamic and has long attracted the attention of major players due to, among other things, the high quality of education, developed infrastructure, and membership in the European Union. Companies are increasingly considering opportunities for Team Augmentation in Poland.

What is Team Augmentation? 

Team (Staff) Augmentation is an outsourcing strategy used to staff a project and respond to the business objectives of the company. This approach is used by businesses when they have a temporary or long-term need for additional resources to complete a project but want to avoid hiring permanent employees. Team augmentation benefits companies with cyclical or seasonal demand, as they can quickly ramp up their workforce during peak periods and scale back down during slower periods. It is also helpful for businesses that need specialized skills for a specific project but need those skills to enhance their in-house team. 

Team augmentation can be used in various industries and disciplines, including:

1. Information Technology (IT). Huge IT companies such as software developers, project managers, and system administrators use team augmentation to fill IT roles.

2. Marketing. Businesses can augment their marketing teams with additional staff to help with campaigns, social media management, content creation, and more.

3. Healthcare. Healthcare organizations can augment their staff with nurses, doctors, or other healthcare professionals to cover staffing shortages or meet increased demand.

4. Engineering. Companies can augment their engineering teams with additional staff for a specific project, such as designing a new product or developing a new system.

5. Finance and Accounting. Businesses can augment their finance and accounting teams with additional staff to help with budgeting, financial analysis, and other related tasks.

6. Customer Service. Companies can augment their customer service teams with additional staff to handle increased customer inquiries or provide round-the-clock customer support.

Team (Staff) Augmentation in Poland: Research and Analysis

Poland has around 50 thousand small, medium, and extensive software companies, according to researchers of the Centre for Strategic Investment, even though the IT industry in the country is a relatively new sector and is constantly evolving. According to PARP reports, the IT industry constitutes about 8% of the Polish GDP, employing over 430 thousand people. From January to May 2021, over 105,000 job offers for IT specialists were published on the Internet in Poland.

Developer pool in the CEE region: 

by Hacker rank (2016) and Stack Overflow reports (2019)

1. Poland — 401 K
2. Romania — 139 K
3. Czech Republic — 130 K
4. Hungary — 105 K
5. Greece — 74 K

Why do IT Companies Choose Team Augmentation in Poland? 

Expert analysis by Victoria Korol, Senior Recruitment Lead 

Victoria Korol — a Senior Recruitment Lead at StaffingPartner, has extensive experience recruiting software developers for global IT companies in Poland, such as N-iX, GlobalLogic, Codewise, etc. She shared observations:

The Polish IT market is saturated with local and foreign companies. Just like in Ukraine, service and product areas are growing here, and many new startups are emerging. It is a dynamic multicultural environment. Poland has one of the most progressive IT sectors among the 23 Central and Eastern European countries. More than 50 thousand software development companies are located here, and more than 800 of them are focused on the international market. In recent years, the demand for experienced professionals has grown significantly in Poland, and the number of remote work offers has increased proportionately.

The Polish IT market includes the development offices of global companies such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Compared to Ukraine, Poland has many more small local product companies and global companies with a worldwide reputation. International companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are the most commonly outsourced in Poland. 

However, the current crisis has affected almost all European countries, including Poland. Hiring is less active now than it was in 2022. Nevertheless, there is a positive upward trend, and we hope that by the end of 2023, hiring in the IT sector will pick up again.

Factors that make Poland an attractive place for business:

• Large pool of IT talent with experience working in global companies;

• High level and the superb quality of education, developed infrastructure, and membership in the European Union;

• Close proximity to Western clients;

• Stable candidates who are primarily focused on long-term cooperation;

• Poles are good team players, they like job-clarity and compliance with all agreements, and they are good at fulfilling (or: completing) their tasks.

Poland Team Augmentation: 5 Key Benefits

In Poland, there is a high level of competition for candidates’ attention, so you need to be as straightforward as possible with candidates and provide many details about the offer. This opens up a space for talented candidates who deliver good results. You need to be able to use negotiation trainers and expertly present the corporate and intangible benefits provided by your company, the level of projects and clients, and the technologies used in your team’s work.

It is crucial to accurately analyze the profile of your candidates to understand how to present the offer to them as successfully and clearly as possible, adding those details that can attract their attention to your company. The recruitment process in Poland is time-consuming, so you need to be careful not to overdo it and not to put too much pressure on the candidate. There is a list of things that make candidates and teams in Poland valuable for the development of any IT company.

Let’s look at a few of them:

1. Top-Level of Education. Polish Information and Communication Technologies universities and their graduates are well-known for their high standards of education. In 2020, 75,000 ICT students and nearly 17,000 graduates were available for recruitment. The universities with ICT graduates are the Warsaw University of Technology, Jagiellonian University and the AGH University of Science in Krakow, and the Wroclaw University of Technology (Data from N-ix).

2. Reasonable Salary Rates. To assess the level of salary expectations, we suggest you compare them with American statistics for the same positions. The median annual salary for a remote Full Stack Developer in Poland is $24,328. Research from Pilot. The national average salary for a Remote Full-stack Developer is $78,056 in the United States. Research from Glassdoor.

3. Extensive Skilled Market. Polish IT professionals are known for their expertise in various programming languages, including Java, C#, Python, Ruby, and others. They also profoundly understand modern development frameworks and technologies like React, Angular, Node.js, and more.

4. High-level Professional Culture. Poles have an excellent level of English and an outstanding business-like communication style. And they know how to present themselves and their skills proficiently. The issue of education is taken very seriously, so candidates have a great theoretical background and qualifications. Moreover, they like stability and continual development in their work.

5. Convenient Location. Close proximity to Western clients. Poland’s strategic location in Central Europe and its highly skilled workforce make it an attractive destination for companies seeking team augmentation services. Poland is only a few hours flight from most Western European countries, which makes it easier for clients to visit their remote teams or host in-person meetings.

IT Hubs in Poland 2023

Poland has emerged as one of the leading IT hubs in Europe, attracting global companies seeking highly skilled and talented professionals. The country’s robust education system and favorable business environment have helped it to become a key destination for IT outsourcing and offshoring.

Some of the top IT hubs in Poland in 2023:

• Krakow — Krakow is a rapidly growing IT hub in Poland, with a thriving startup ecosystem and a large pool of talented IT professionals. The city boasts a vibrant tech community.
• Warsaw — Warsaw is Poland’s capital and the largest city in the country. It has a well-established IT industry and is home to some of the biggest tech companies in the world. Warsaw offers a supportive business environment and a highly skilled workforce.
• Wroclaw — Wroclaw is a dynamic city with a thriving IT sector. It’s home to several technology parks and innovation centers and has a highly skilled and diverse workforce. Wroclaw’s central location in Poland makes it an attractive destination for companies seeking to establish a presence in Central Europe.
• Gdansk — Gdansk is a fast-growing IT hub in Poland with a vibrant startup scene and a highly skilled workforce. The city is home to several IT companies and technology parks, with a strong focus on innovation and research.
• Poznan — Poznan is a leading IT hub in Western Poland, with a rapidly growing tech sector and a highly skilled workforce. The city offers a favorable business environment and innovation centers.

Conclusion

Overall, Poland is an excellent choice for team augmentation due to its considerable technical talent, competitive pricing, and favorable business environment. However, if you are unaware of the possible challenges when hiring a team or a specialist in Poland, you may encounter the scenario that the candidate will lose interest and will not recommend the company among his or her circle of IT professionals. It’s essential to address these challenges upfront and establish clear communication channels and expectations to ensure a successful partnership.

Staff Augmentation with StaffingPartner

Partnering with StaffingPartner in Poland can provide you with access to a vast pool of skilled talent, reduce your time to hire, offer flexibility and scalability, and help you save on project expenses. Because we can give you access to a global tech talent resource to save costs, scale your development team fast, or have round-the-clock productivity. In this way, we keep our services tailored just for you. We are always up-to-date as we monitor your region’s hiring trends. Try working with our professional global IT recruitment agency.

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