The best partnerships form when both parties benefit equally, a win-win situation. Emerging Europe Alliance is promoting this kind of relationships between developed countries and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). And we are joining this movement.
Thanks to the events organised by Emerging Europe Alliance we have a chance to forge valuable connections with local businesses and discuss some of the specific problems facing the UK tech sector.
Oleg Nesterov speaks at SSE Ukraine’s breakout session in London
The UK, and London as its biggest tech hub, seems in a great spot when it comes to information technology.
It boasts a vibrant startup culture and has one of the highest populations of IT professionals in Europe.
But it also faces an acute shortage of skilled tech personnel (especially mid-level).
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, companies in the UK were reluctant to hire college graduates. As the result, many potential engineers moved away from the tech sector or didn’t acquire the skills necessary to develop modern software.
Ten years later, many firms struggle to find qualified engineers for their projects.
According to Robert Walters, a UK-based recruitment firm, 70% of employers are expecting this shortage to get worse in 2019.
And here is more:
What’s more, the high competition for skilled employees has increased salaries up to the point where startups and SMBs find it hard to compete.
In the past, UK firms employed a lot of professionals from other EU countries. With Brexit in full swing, it would be next to impossible to satiate the country’s growing need for skilled engineers.
A number of experts are expressing their worries that this shortage is going to damage the UK’s ability to compete on the global IT stage.
“The UK is facing a skills shortage crisis which, if goes unaddressed, could have a disastrous impact on UK businesses’ ability to complete on a global scale post-Brexit” — Kristie Donnelly, Managing Director, City&Guides
One of the ways UK firms could solve their talent shortage is by looking at other countries for acquiring human resources.
CEE remains a relatively unknown region for the UK tech firms.
With about 1,000,000 professional-level developers, it has an incredible IT potential.
Source:infoshare.com
A two-hour difference between the UK and CEE means there are no barriers to communication. And relatively low developer rates allow IT firms to save as much as 60% on labour costs by working with a Ukrainian development team, for instance.
All in all, the CEE region can become an extremely important asset to the UK tech industry. What is lacking is the awareness of its true potential on the part of local business.
And for this very purpose, our team is visiting London on 17-18 October to take part in Outsourcing Summit & Expo (OSX). It’s a free exhibition and networking space dedicated to remote partnership and the latest trends in the tech industry.
So come to meet our team in London to learn all you need to know about IT sourcing and establish valuable business connections.
