#35. Tech talent: the big shortage
The case for Polish tech talent, the shortage affecting emerging markets, and a source for articles about Eastern Europe.
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How does tech talent contribute to make Poland a technological hub? 🇵🇱 🐱💻
How does the tech talent shortage affect emerging markets? 👩💻🚫
Where to read fascinating articles of Eastern Europe? 🌍📰
If so, keep reading…
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Tech Talent in Poland
Poland is one of the hottest markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) area for startups and tech. Among the 34 Unicorns that have emerged in the region in 2021, 8 come from Poland, having the most in the region. Big tech companies like IBM, Google, or Microsoft have been present in Poland for many years, and they have an outstanding gaming industry.
One of the factors contributing to this landscape is the abundance of tech talent that is more affordable than in Western Europe or the U.S. The demand for tech talent is always high and resilient to crisis; resulting in a worldwide tech talent shortage that is unevenly distributed.
It is not the case in Poland, for several factors:
Higher education for computer science is of great quality and affordable. Universities are among the oldest in Europe and do not charge tuition. Additionally, some of the Soviet legacy that placed high importance in math, science, and ICT remains.
People have economic incentives to pursue software engineering. Salaries for software engineers are at least 3 times higher than the average. They have the highest share of developers who started coding at 5.
Policymakers place emphasis on educating software engineering at all ages.
Skilled migrants from Ukraine and other countries in Eastern Europe, who often come to study in Poland, graduate as software engineers, and stay to work for better opportunities.
In total, they have almost 430,000 IT specialists on the market, being the largest IT expert pool in the CEE region.
This has spurred a virtuous circle: the ecosystem has not only attracted big technological companies but also created startups that have caught the eyes of VCs, both local and international.
Failure story: The tech talent shortage in Emerging Markets
Call it a failure, call it a challenge, it is a reality occurring worldwide, and again, unevenly distributed.
While in Poland they have managed to create a tech talent pool, they are an exception. A 2019 estimate from the IFC calculated that by 2030 there will be a shortage of 85M tech workers worldwide. The economies they expected to be hit the hardest are Brazil, Indonesia, and Japan, potentially facing shortages of up to 18M workers.
Tech talent is concentrated, as well. A 2020 IFC report claimed that there are approximately 700,000 developers across Africa, with 50% concentrated in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Most of the tech talent demand is concentrated at senior to manager levels. This puts at a disadvantage the regions that are training their software engineering talent since they will need the experience to reach this level. Additionally, for emerging markets, affordability of education can be an obstacle to reach a critical mass of growth.
Andela, in Africa, pivoted due to these reasons. At first, they had a high focus on upskilling talent, resulting in 127,000 Africans trained through Andela programs, with very high prestige. However, Andela monetized through placement, and they realized that a global marketplace for talent was a starker need. Therefore, they decided to shift the focus to attract more senior talent.
Source recommendation: Eastern Radar
Eastern Radar is a newsletter written by Fabrice Deprez, who is a journalist with experience covering Eastern Europe. In Eastern Radar, he shares fascinating stories that he runs into at his work, that don’t get so much attention and deserve more.
Eastern Radar is a compilation of links of articles with summaries, for you to get a taste and dive deeper if you’re interested. You can read stories ranging from business and tech to politics and academic articles, all over Eastern Europe.
You can read it here: