The economics of recruitment reveals that benefits from hiring remote employees in Eastern Europe exceed perceived drawbacks.
A perhaps unexpressed, but general area of concern for both employers and employees, revolves around trust.
Lack of trust sometimes deters employers from tapping into valuable opportunities due to unproven beliefs.
However, it is understandable that anyone would be tactful about entering a contract that has significant or long-term implications.
Contracts are meant to eliminate or diminish complications brought by a lack of trust and information asymmetry.
Information asymmetry arises when one of the parties to a transaction has more information relative to the others.
When this happens, information could be exploited to extract financial benefits.
In the context of recruitment, both the employee and the employer have access to uneven levels of information.
Employers know more about a role’s tasks and expected responsibilities, while employees are more aware of their capabilities and long-term ambitions.
Recruiting and hiring remotely could add another layer of complexity.
However, hiring from the right pool of candidates and incentivising transparency can significantly reduce this uncertainty and rebalance the asymmetry of information.
Clear communication and appreciation for differences minimises the effect of information asymmetry and delivers value to all parties.
Uneven information between employees and employers could be influenced by differences in education, language skills as well as social and psychological factors.
Education
Let us consider first differences in education between Western and Eastern economies.
The Eastern European (EE) school system differs from that of Western countries through its emphasis on logic and permanent testing which breeds a strong sense of competitiveness.
The learning process in EE can be a solely individualistic process which leads to resourcefulness and creative problem solving.
The focus of Western economies on a multi-disciplinary approach to education versus vocational training, explains to a certain extent the shortage of tech talent in those regions.
A heritage of the education priorities from communist times, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) is a key area of interest for graduates as it leads to better job prospects.
With an emphasis on the utility education provides, most students in EE enrol in technical and vocational training.
This can still be observed in the ranking of world competitions in Computer Science, Maths and Statistics, with Romania emerging as #4 globally, followed by Bulgaria at #5, Slovakia, Belarus and Croatia.
Not only do Eastern European students have a head start, but as technologies change, individuals can also easily adapt to fluid environments making them valuable long-term employees.
Understanding different learning patterns is of great benefit to employers as it helps establish symmetry of information between cultures.
Language skills
Globalisation and expanding supply chains require strong language skills.
4 out 5 Romanians speak English as foreign languages are taught from preschool and nearly 98% of all Bulgarians speak a foreign language, according to research.
Strong language skills are key to effective communication and efficient outcomes, thus balancing the level of information symmetry between employees and employers.
Social and psychological factors
Previous political and economic regimes in Eastern Europe have led to the development of an intrinsic, deep motivation of the individual to overcome economic barriers and improve social status.
This translates into a highly motivated and delivery-focused workforce that is compatible with the long-term nature of coding and implementing IT projects.
The employee’s intrinsic motivation is aligned to the business goals of the employer, and, as such, reduces potential future costs from information asymmetry.
These aspects have actually led to an increased local presence of tech giants, such as Google, IBM, Microsoft or GoPro, and an rise in the number of fast-growing EE tech hubs.
Western corporations as well as the emerging startup scene support Eastern European developers gain access to the latest tools and the most effective ways of working.
This can only be encouraging for future employers looking to hire remotely in the region.
Information asymmetry challenges arising from considering EE full-time remote employees are diminished, as employers can be reassured that the candidates are experienced and highly qualified.
If you are looking to hire remote full-time experienced software developers, please get in touch at info@boundeast.com and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates.
