Hire engineers from Eastern Europe.
Shortlist in 5 days.
Recruo sources pre-validated engineers from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary — for scale-ups in UK, Germany, Netherlands and Nordics. 40–55% lower cost than local hires. Full overlap with your working hours. EU AI Act compliant by design.
Why CEE
Why scale-ups choose
Central & Eastern Europe.
Six reasons why London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Stockholm scale-ups already source 60%+ of their engineering hires from CEE.
Deep, replenished talent pool
Poland (295K), Ukraine (420K), Romania (155K) — plus Czech, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary. 870K+ engineers, with 25K+ new graduates per year.
40–55% lower cost than UK/DE
A senior backend engineer at €60–75K in Warsaw or Kyiv equals £100–130K in London. Same quality, no relocation, no enterprise overhead.
Working hours that actually overlap
UTC+1/+2 means 7–9 hours of daily overlap with London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm. No async-only compromise.
English as working language
CEE engineers consistently rank B2–C1 on EF EPI. Daily standups, async docs, architecture debates — all in English by default.
Strong technical education
CEE universities (KPI, AGH, Politehnica Bucharest) produce engineers with deep CS fundamentals — algorithms, distributed systems, mathematics.
Legal setups that work
B2B contractors, EOR (Remote/Deel), or your own entity. We help structure based on your team size and risk tolerance.
Country breakdown
Where the talent lives.
Senior engineer salary ranges and English proficiency by country (2026 data, B2B contractor model).
| Country | Tech specialists | Senior salary (annual) | English (CEFR) |
|---|---|---|---|
🇵🇱 Poland Largest CEE tech market. Strong in fintech, e-commerce, gamedev. | 295K | €50–85K | B2+ |
🇺🇦 Ukraine 85% of devs working full-time despite war. Strongest in backend, blockchain, AI/ML. | 420K | €35–65K | B1–C1 |
🇷🇴 Romania Bucharest and Cluj are EU hubs. Strong in security, embedded, fintech. | 155K | €40–70K | B2+ |
🇨🇿 Czech Republic Mature market, deep talent in security and embedded systems. | 95K | €55–90K | B2+ |
🇧🇬 Bulgaria Sofia is a growing hub. Strong in outsourcing-friendly stacks. | 50K | €40–70K | B2+ |
🇸🇰 Slovakia Smaller pool but high quality. Strong .NET and JVM ecosystem. | 35K | €45–75K | B2+ |
Salary ranges reflect senior B2B contractor rates. Full-time employment via EOR adds 11–15%. Sources: DOU 2025, Bulldogjob, Pracuj.pl, EF EPI 2025.
How it works
From mandate to CEE shortlist in 5 days.
Same 6-step flow as our standard service. AI does 80% of the screening, a human recruiter signs off on every shortlist.
Intake call
30-min scoping. We capture the JD, must-haves, culture, budget, timeline.
CEE sourcing
LinkedIn, DOU, Djinni, Just Join IT, Bulldogjob, our private CEE network.
AI CV screening
Every CV scored against the JD. Only 70+ scores move forward.
Soft-skills interview
20–30 min recruiter call: motivation, English, salary, availability.
AI technical interview
Adaptive technical interview on video with anti-cheat checks.
Shortlist delivery
3–5 candidates with CV analysis, AI report, and recruiter notes.
FAQ
CEE hiring questions,
honestly answered.
Why CEE specifically and not just "remote anywhere"?+
Because time zones matter. A 7+ hour overlap with your team beats a 2-hour overlap, every time. CEE gives you Western European working hours at 40–55% lower cost — without the async-only friction of US/LATAM/SEA hires.
How do you source from Ukraine given the war?+
Ukrainian developers are still working — 85% remained employed full-time according to DOU 2025 data. Most are in safer western regions or relocated to Poland, Romania, Germany. We work with candidates who have stable working setups, document their location, and pay in EUR/USD to avoid currency risk.
What about EU work authorization?+
Most candidates work as B2B contractors (no work permit needed). Polish, Romanian, Czech, Bulgarian, Slovak, Hungarian engineers have full EU work rights. Ukrainian engineers have temporary protection across EU until at least March 2027.
Can we hire as full-time employees, not contractors?+
Yes — through an Employer of Record (Remote, Deel, Oyster) it costs an extra 11–15% on top of salary. Worth it above 5 hires for retention reasons. We can recommend the right structure for your team size.
How much does Recruo cost vs sourcing ourselves?+
We charge 15% of annual salary on placement. On a €70K hire, that's €10.5K. Sourcing yourself takes 60–120 hours of recruiter time over 6+ weeks — easily €15K+ in fully loaded cost, plus the opportunity cost of not having a recruiter who knows the CEE market.
How fast can you deliver a shortlist?+
5 business days from signed mandate to a shortlist of 3–5 pre-validated candidates. VP/Head roles take 10–14 days. Every candidate has been screened by AI and interviewed by a human recruiter.
Get started
Ready to stop losing
engineering time to hiring?
Fill out the form and we'll reach out within 24 hours to scope your first role. Or book a 30-min discovery call directly.
No upfront fees
Pay only on placement
90-day guarantee
Free re-search if hire leaves
EU AI Act ready
Compliant by design