Following our previous article about tech employees in Ukraine, we would like to focus your attention on another attractive and prosperous market for the best IT specialists – Poland. In recent years, Poland has emerged as a center for IT outsourcing, being popular especially among Western companies. Developers in Poland not only have outstanding technical capabilities, but also a western attitude and a strong command of English, which is why US and European business owners consider employing Polish specialists.
Poland’s IT sector employs over 160,000 people, accounting for more than 1.7 percent of the global IT market. Approximately 80% of the services are delivered to European enterprises.
Poland has a wide choice of IT-related degrees at local institutions, which arose as a result of the significant demand for technology education – over 75,000 Polish graduates apply to computer science faculties each year. Every year, around 15,000 IT university graduates join the work market, with 95 percent claiming to be fluent in English.
Why is Poland good for hiring IT developers?
It’s no surprise that every business, whether a startup or a large corporation, is searching for high-quality software engineers to collaborate with. While professional software development is never cheap, Polish professionals have the lowest costs in the European Union. According to the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL), highly skilled Polish developers may be found and hired for less than $3,000 per month. For example, wages for the same sort of activity in the United States or the European Union are substantially higher (about $100,000 per year).
Below are the major points describing the advantages of developers in Poland.
- Poland has an exceptional 70.56 points in the US Chamber of Commerce IP Index 2020, making it the safest country among popular outsourcing locations.
- Poland ranks third in terms of developer success in prominent programming contests, according to Hackerrank, and fifth in TopCoder Country Ranking statistics.
- Poland is the largest FinTech market in Central and Eastern Europe, with a market value of roughly of 856 million euro. It’s vital for Fintech businesses to stay within the EU market while being compliant with EU rules – and saving money on labor costs.
- In the English Proficiency Index, Poland ranks 16th out of 100 countries
- Poland has an excellent geographical location.
Payroll Taxes in Poland
Individual taxation in Poland consists of social contributions and personal income tax. Some of the social contributions in Poland are paid by the employee and some by the employer as follows:
| Contribution | Contribution amount | Paid by |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Pensions and disability insurance | 16.26% of total gross salary (up to the cap of PLN 157,770 in 2021) | Employer |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Pensions and disability insurance | 11.26% of total gross salary (up to the cap of PLN 157,770 in 2021) | Employee |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Sickness insurance | 2.45% of total gross salary | Employee |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Accident insurance | 1.67% of total gross salary for employers that employ up to nine employees. 0.67% to 3.33% of total gross salary for employers that employ more than nine employees (the precise rate depends on the business sector). In practice, a flat rate of 1.67% is applied in respect of foreign employers. | Employer |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Labour Fund | 2.45% of total gross salary | Employer |
| ———————————————————————————————– | ———- | |
| Employee Guaranteed Benefits Fund | 0.10% of total gross salary | Employer |
Personal Income Tax in Poland
Poland has a progressive taxation system. Generally, an annual income of up to 85,528 PLN will be taxed as 17%, whereas income above this limit will be taxed at 32%
You can also calculate the net salary and social security contributions in Poland by using the Acvian Payroll Calculator designed to understand the cost of employment in Poland and 118 countries globally.
How to hire employees in Poland?
PEO in Poland is the fastest way to hire developers in Poland. Acvian Global HR and Employment solution allows hiring and onboarding employees in Poland directly on our entity. Our company will serve as an official employer for legal and tax purposes while employees perform work for you. Acvian will provide payroll services in Poland and will offer benefit packages like private health insurance, gym allowance, car, or office rent.
If you are interested in hiring tech employees in Poland, check out our recent post outlining labor agreements in Poland and their differences.
