For a few years in a row, Poland has maintained a top position — ranked second in 2019 and third in 2021 — among the top 50 countries to invest in globally. Direct investment in Poland amounts to $1.2 billion annually, behind only the US and Spain. Among projects that attract investors, the majority are in the technology sector, specifically in IT outsourcing.
Poland’s positive economic climate and stable market make it attractive for companies to outsource IT services to Polish companies. Among the most notable advantages of outsourcing to Poland are:
- Excellent coding expertise
- High concentration of talent
- Overlapping time zones
- European work culture and English fluency
- Affordable services
- Strong R&D market
- Nearshoring and offshoring opportunities
Poland is one of the best IT outsourcing destinations worldwide. Geographically, it’s located near Western European countries and is tied to them culturally. While being a member of the European Union, Poland can provide affordable services for various reasons. Let’s see what creates a positive IT business environment in Poland, resulting in high product quality and additional benefits of outsourcing services.
Why is Poland a great outsourcing destination?
Since joining the EU in 2004, Poland has received lots of investment and infrastructure development. Up to 2015, Poland’s GDP growth was the highest among European countries, alongside Slovakia. Even in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish economy has stood strong, with the fourth lowest GDP decrease among European countries.
In the technology sector, Poland ranks 15th among digital nations worldwide, being the second highest rated European country. There are more than 700,000 developers in the Central and Eastern European region, and Poland has the biggest share, being home to almost 300,000 developers. This highly specialized market pays off, and revenue generated from software outsourcing in Poland is constantly growing.
IT outsourcing services market revenue in Poland from 2016 to 2021
Source: Statista, IT services
The Polish IT market has been growing at a stable pace year after year. Most Polish IT outsourcing companies are expanding their operations globally, opening development centers and representative offices all over the world. Poland’s GDP grew to $595,916 million in 2021, and 10% of this is the IT/ICT market, which is growing at around 3% per year. Software development in Poland has entered almost every industry and become the main driving force behind rapid growth of the whole IT market and infrastructure in the country. Enterprise-level cloud computing services have also given a boost to growth in the number of IT outsourcing companies in Poland.
Why outsource to Poland?
Place of Polish outsourcing in the global IT market
Poland has already outgrown the status of emerging economy and has become a stable developed country that has cemented its place in global service and product markets. Software development in Poland has entered almost every industry. At the same time, software outsourcing in Poland is one of the key export services. Revenue from software development in Poland accounts for €8.8 billion annually.
Software development revenue in Poland and across Europe?
Source: IBISWorld: Industry statistics
Poland competes with countries from Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia), Asia (China, India, the Philippines), and neighboring CEE IT hubs (Ukraine, Romania) in being named the top software development destination. While Asian and Latin American markets can beat Poland in terms of people availability, Poland still has advantages in regards to the business environment, digital infrastructure, and quality of services.
On the CEE IT outsourcing market, Poland competes with neighboring countries.
Comparison of IT outsourcing in Central and Eastern Europe
Let’s compare the three main IT hubs in Central and Eastern Europe that provide the most talent capability to technology companies for outsourcing their software development. The largest IT hubs are Poland, Ukraine, and Romania.
Software development outsourcing in Poland
The Polish technology sector combines sales of computer equipment, software development services, and distribution of digital products. Total revenue from the tech industry is projected to grow by 45%, reaching $13 billion by the end of 2022. The Polish IT outsourcing services market includes 700 business centers, employing around 150,000 specialists. The software development and IT outsourcing sectors are forecasted to grow by 7% annually. The hardware and computer sectors are expected to grow by 3.2% per year.
The software development market in Poland unites around 300,000 developers. The number is projected to grow due to 15,000 graduates per year and 99,500 high school students who attend development courses.
The rates for software development services in Poland range between $11 to $65 per hour, including for freelancers. When looking for software developers working in IT outsourcing companies from Poland, the range will be between $40 to $56 an hour. The top programming languages among Polish software developers are Java and SQL at the top, followed by JavaScript, Scala, Ruby, C#, and Python.
Software development outsourcing in Ukraine
Despite visible competition between Poland and Ukraine, these two countries share a strong bond in terms of culture and work environment. In fact, a lot of Ukrainian companies have offices in Polish cities. For example, Intellias opened an office in Krakow in the scope of the company’s global expansion of delivery operations. Ukrainian revenue from software development for international companies is around $3.5 billion a year. The total revenue for IT outsourcing services in Poland is the second largest by export value across sectors.
The Ukrainian software outsourcing market is growing by 20% to 30% per year. The total export of IT services is forecasted to reach $8.4 billion by 2025. The number of software developers in Ukraine is constantly growing, reaching 250,000 in 2021. Technical universities and special courses prepare nearly 36,000 engineers annually. The most developed IT hubs in Ukraine are in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Odesa.
Hourly rates may vary between $12 and $62. Engineers in outsourcing companies may cost between $26 and $43. The most popular programming languages among Ukrainian developers are SQL and JavaScript, with Java, Python, PHP, C++, Ruby, and Scala following.
Software development outsourcing in Romania
The IT software development market in Romania is worth around $1.2 billion, with 70% of tech businesses supported by international investment. Romania provides nearly 120,000 developers for outsourcing services. The number continues to grow, with 7,000 tech students graduating yearly.
Rates for Romanian software engineers range between $15 to $60 per hour. If you choose to find a Romanian software development company, the rates will be between $26 to $45 an hour. The most popular programming languages among Romanian developers are SQL, JavaScript, Java, Python, and C++.
The Polish IT ecosystem
Poland has become home to numerous tech giants and pioneering startups. World-known companies like IBM, Nokia, Intel, and Samsung employ over 15,000 IT specialists in Poland. The Polish IT ecosystem provides talent capabilities for R&D centers and digital products used by billions of users.
International companies and R&D centers in Poland
Source: Software development in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Romania
Large Polish cities have also become IT software development outsourcing hubs. In addition to the Polish capital, Warsaw, medium-sized cities like Wroclaw, Krakow, and Poznan are becoming attractive locations for IT services due to high-quality technical universities, large talent pools, a good quality of living for a reasonable price, convenient city infrastructure, and air connections to Western capitals.
Top software development service providers in Poland
Polish education in the IT/ICT sector is flourishing. Universities with tech faculties have very high standards of education and prepare students who are ready to work.
IT/ICT education in Poland
Source: Software development in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Romania
Polish IT outsourcing companies with offices in the country’s main IT hubs have experience in lots of industries, with reputable clients both in Poland and abroad. The most popular is the financial services industry; Polish development companies build software products for global banks and FinTech startups.
Main industries served by software providers in Poland
Source: Software development in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Romania
Polish software development companies offer a variety of engineering services, ranging from providing dedicated software development teams to software architecture, QA, testing, IT operations, and digital marketing services. Web application development is the main service among Polish software developers, bringing over 15% of IT industry revenue.
Top software development services among Polish IT companies
Source: Software development in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, and Romania
Key benefits of outsourcing to Poland
Many technology companies and global enterprises continue to rely on outsourcing services in delivering their digital products and following their digital transformation journeys. The choice of Poland as an outsourcing destination is more than reasonable because of the country’s location, talent capital, expertise, and international experience. Among the most notable reasons to outsource to Poland are:
- A healthy and developed economy
- Highly skilled engineers
- A dynamically growing IT market
- GDPR standards for protecting intellectual property and for securing data
- A large pool of IT graduates each year
- Proximity to European cities
- Experience in various industries
- Wide scope of engineering services
- IT hubs in biggest Polish cities
- EU member
- Results-driven mindset
The list could be endless. Let’s focus on the most visible benefits of Polish software development outsourcing.
Great coding expertise
IT outsourcing companies in Poland have access to a large network of skilled software developers. According to TopCoder, Poland is one of the top five countries for talent based on developers’ skills. This has also been proven by IT developers from Poland taking leading positions in annual coding contests like Google Code Jam, Microsoft Imagine Cup, and the Central European Regional Contest (CERC).
Poland is also in the top three countries worldwide for best developers according to HackerRank:
Source: HackerRank Programming Olympics
Poland has one of the largest pools of skilled software engineers in Europe. According to Statista, it was home to nearly 300,000 software developers as of 2019.
High concentration of talent
There are several major IT hubs in Poland — Warsaw, Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw, and Katowice. These five cities house 80% of all software engineers in Poland. Krakow holds second place, with nearly 50,000 working IT specialists and 170,000 aspiring students learning in this cultural and educational center. Working with an IT outsourcing company in Krakow will ensure access to a thriving community of experienced professionals who can handle every aspect of your business.
Moreover, as most software developers in Poland start writing code when they’re under 10 years old, by 17, many are already quite experienced.
Cities with the biggest population of developers
Overlapping time zones
Poland is in the GMT+1 time zone, so the majority of European clients will have overlapping working hours with their IT technology partners. As for US clients, the time difference is 6 hours for the East Coast and 9 hours for the West Coast, still allowing several hours during the day to contact IT partners. As a result, tasks can be completed the same day for EU companies and overnight for US companies.
Similar work culture and English fluency
Poland is ranked #11 out of 100 countries in EF Education’s English Proficiency Index (and #9 out of 33 countries in Europe). Most software developers in Poland speak English fluently or at least at an upper-intermediate level. You can be confident in solid communication, saving your business from costly mistakes.
Poland is a predominantly Catholic state that follows the same calendar and holds the same values as its Western partners. Polish holidays mostly coincide with those in the US and Western Europe, so your outsourcing partners will work when you work and rest when you rest.
Most importantly, Poland is part of the EU and adheres to all EU business regulations like the GDPR while following generally accepted codes of conduct for European companies. Polish companies prefer building long-term partnerships over simply closing deals.
This is certainly true of Intellias, a well-known IT outsourcing services provider. We value our reputation and do everything we can to win our clients’ trust. With returning clients and referrals accounting for 70% of all our clients, we’re proud to be among the most trusted and reliable IT outsourcing companies in Poland.
Affordable services
Hourly rates of software engineers vary depending on seniority, project scope, and other factors. However, cost of living is one of the most influential aspects. According to a 2017 overview by Eastern Peak of global average hourly rates for software development, skilled talent in Poland runs from $30 to $50 per hour. This is three times less than the average rates for US contractors, most of whom charge around $150 an hour, or with Canadian companies, which often charge around $100 an hour.
Despite the lower rates, however, the quality of services and final products is high. From the perspective of price–quality ratio, Poland is by far the best choice to meet your hiring needs.
Strong R&D market
Poland is located next to major economic hubs and has direct flights to destinations around the world, making it easy for companies to communicate and interact. Many leading international companies and global technology vendors like Intel, Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Cisco, and Samsung have already established R&D centers in Poland and are benefiting from its strong and growing economy. This is why Poland is one of the top 50 outsourcing destinations worldwide.
With each passing year, Poland strengthens its position in various international ratings and attracts more and more companies to establish a presence. Maybe it’s time to join them?
Offshoring and nearshoring
Poland is a great destination for both offshoring and nearshoring. For EU companies, Poland is an attractive nearshoring option due to its geographical proximity and relatively lower cost of living. EU companies outsourcing to Poland can significantly reduce their project expenses and easily keep their hands on the pulse of their projects.
For US customers, Poland is a great offshoring choice due to the ability of Polish companies to deliver high-quality end-to-end solutions at affordable prices. Outsourcing companies in Poland excel at providing turnkey products to support their customers’ innovations and business growth.
Choose Poland for quality, cultural match, and expertise
Poland is an attractive IT outsourcing destination for many reasons. Due to its stable growth, influx of highly qualified specialists from surrounding countries, and strong software development community, Poland is a place where you can find a trustworthy technology partner.
Intellias is an international IT outsourcing company with offices in Berlin, Krakow, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv. Due to its abundance of skilled software engineers, ever-growing investments, and proximity to our clients, Poland was a logical destination to expand to. We’re happy to provide top-notch IT outsourcing services in Poland to help your business reach new heights.
Contact us with your project requirements and let’s make great things together!
