When hiring developers, Silicon Valley may be the first thing that crosses your mind, but you may not always be able to tempt them into relocating. You may not have given much thought to it, but developers from the Balkan countries could be a good match and relatively easier to hire.
As a tech recruiter, when you search for developers, it pays to know how to engage with them the best way and what factors drive them to accept a job offer. But enticing them to accept your job offer isn’t always a cakewalk.
Luckily, we have helped businesses hire a bunch of IT professionals (including developers) from all corners of the globe. Drawing upon our experience of hiring developers from the Balkans, we believe there are a few key things you should remember to make your recruitment process faster and more effective.
Not sure what they are? Read on to know more.
Relocation Trend from the Balkans
We have helped source several developers and designers from the Balkans for our clients. If developers from these regions aren’t yet featured on your talent map, you should rethink your recruitment and talent sourcing strategy.
Our experience of dealing with Balkan developers has opened our eyes to what fantastic team players these professionals are. They come equipped with world-class experience as well. However, there’s a small problem.
Balkan developers aren’t always eager or ready to locate. This is partially due to the cheap cost of living in the Balkan countries compared to the rest of Europe.
Though Balkan countries are amongst the cheapest in Europe, their developers get paid handsomely. If you thought that living in some of the cheapest countries in Europe means getting salaries considerably lower than the rest of the continent, that’s not true.
Sometimes, senior developers working in Balkan countries draw the same (or nearly the same) salaries as their counterparts from countries like the Netherlands or the United Kingdom. As a result, enticing these professionals to get to accept your job offer could be tough.
How Can You Make Balkan Developers Accept Your Job Offer?
As their cost of living is lower compared to the rest of the continent, Balkan developers spend less on expenses, such as food, accommodation, and utility bills. Many of these professionals even have more money left in their bank accounts at the month-end compared to their Dutch or English counterparts.
This makes it difficult to entice Balkan developers with tech recruitment roles, especially as high salaries don’t seem too alluring to them to relocate as their own countries have a lower cost of living. But does it mean you should give up on your hope of hiring Balkan developers? Definitely not, we say!
You will need to persuade them to relocate. Not sure how? A few Balkan IT professionals we interacted with during our recruitment processes advised us to sell tech recruitment roles by highlighting the novel experiences and challenging opportunities they will create.
In Balkan countries, the development teams are predominantly single-national. As a result, they offer very little diversity. In contrast, the development teams in most EU countries are made of 10+ nationalities and have people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, languages, and cultures.
Being part of such global teams will give the Balkan developers an opportunity to meet new people and learn about the world. Brainstorming with a diverse group, sharing ideas, collaborating, and networking can create new experiences. All these will be a novel learning experience, supporting their professional and personal growth.
Though a good pay packet is always important, it’s not the solitary driving factor for everyone. Being exposed to a global workforce, knowing about new cultures, and creating unique experiences can be pretty challenging, motivating, and rewarding in the short and long run than simply getting a fatter pay packet at the month-end.
Wrapping Up
If you haven’t hired developers from the Balkans until now, it will help to keep these factors in mind when you do it. And if you haven’t been successful in hiring developers from the region, focusing on new experiences and novel challenges that help propel growth instead of a higher salary will be a wiser thing.
What else will you do to make Balkan developers accept your job offer?
This article was written by Sonali