There are a large number of technology start-ups in the Nordic region and Sweden in particular.
It is also true, however, that they often face a shortage of qualified engineers. Not only are software developers, testers and analysts hard to find and hard to persuade to change jobs, but the overall cost of employing them is also quite high.
This is why the CTO of one of these successful start-ups decided to look outside the country for high quality software engineers. The search began in Belarus. It was initially quite satisfactory. However, they decided to move the search to Warsaw, Poland, due to political issues and the fact that so many Belarusian developers decided to migrate to Poland.
It turned out quite successful, and in this short article we present how Optiveum helped a Swedish educational platform build a team of software developers and testers in Warsaw.
“We also helped them with their legal and accounting needs. We introduced them to our partner experts in Poland.”
“They have a great network of really talented developers.” – says the CTO, Head of Product at the Educational Technology Platform from Sweden
What was done and how?
Project description:
Based in Warsaw, Poland, Optiveum helped a digital maths platform to set up a new technology department. They have worked on hiring developers, hiring an accountant and a lawyer, drafting contracts and finding an office.
Client feedback
Thanks to Optiveum, the client now has an established office in Poland with over 10 developers. They also work with trusted legal and accounting professionals. Throughout the project, the team has been communicative, responsive, understanding and adaptable. They have quick recruitment processes in place.
What were the measurable outcomes of the project? How did you measure progress or success?
Client comments: “We have had over 10 developer hires through their services. The average recruitment process is 2 weeks. Everything from the creation of the job, the sourcing of the candidates and the initial screening is done by Optiveum.” – The Swedish CTO said
Describe their project management
How did they respond to your needs? – we asked the CTO
- Extremely good communication.
- A new recruitment process starts within one working day.
- Presentation of new potential hires is within a couple of days.
- They have a great network of really talented developers.
- They listen to our needs.
- They adapt to changes even after the recruitment process has started.
- We expected the recruitment process to take 1-2 months, but all the hires are made within 1 month of starting the process and the average time from starting the process to signing the contract is 2 weeks.
Having previous experience of working with and within Swedish companies, it was relatively easy to adapt to their work culture and find such candidates who were highly qualified, available to start within a maximum of one month and charged Polish market rates,” says Marek Wrobel, Managing Partner of Optiveum.
“It is worth mentioning that software developers in Poland charge rates which are not the lowest in Europe but still we calculated with our Swedish clients that we are talking of 30- 40% lower total costs of employment when comparing IT engineers in Sweden and in Poland.”- he adds.
The team consists of Belarussian, Polish and Ukrainian developers and we now work on finding additional quality engineers.
If you would like to learn more: contact Optiveum Managing Partner Marek Wrobel at marek.wrobel (at) optiveum.com
References and contact details to the client case we mentioned in the article are available on request.
