Hire Developers in Eastern Europe
Full-time software developers from Poland, Hungary and Romania, plus neighbouring countries such as Bulgaria and Czechia, tested with live coding and a take-home task, working only for your team. Finalists in about 20 days; pay nothing until you hire.
hire.countries = [Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechia, …]
hire.tests = [english, live_coding, take_home]
hire.exclusive = true // one client, full-time
hire.ip = "assigned to you"
hire.finalists = 3..5 // ~20 days
Eastern Europe has some of the deepest, most English-fluent engineering talent outside the US. Talentige recruits developers there for companies that want senior-quality code, European working hours that overlap the US morning, and a developer who belongs to their team, not an outsourcing shop's bench.
The talent pool, in public numbers
See the data as a table
| Country | ICT specialists, 2025 | Share of employment |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | 778,800 | 4.5% |
| Hungary | 212,500 | 4.6% |
| Romania | 207,800 | 2.7% |
| EU-27 | 10,450,800 | 5.0% |
See the data as a table
| Country | EF EPI 2025 score | Global rank (of 123) |
|---|---|---|
| Romania | 605 | #11 |
| Poland | 600 | #15 |
| Hungary | 590 | #22 |
| Global average | 488 | – |
Poland has the largest ICT workforce of the three, and all three score well above the global average for English. That makes code reviews, stand-ups and written specs with your US team straightforward.
Where we recruit
Poland
The largest ICT workforce in the region, with 778,800 ICT specialists.- Time
- CET (UTC+1)
- ICT jobs
- 778,800 (2025)
- EF EPI
- 600, #15
Hungary
A deep pool centred on Budapest, which scores 613 on the EF English index.- Time
- CET (UTC+1)
- ICT jobs
- 212,500 (2025)
- EF EPI
- 590, #22
Romania
Tech hubs including Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca and Iași, and the highest English score of the three.- Time
- EET (UTC+2)
- ICT jobs
- 207,800 (2025)
- EF EPI
- 605, #11
We also recruit in neighbouring countries, including Bulgaria and Czechia. For lower-cost developer markets with published ranges, see hire remote developers (Morocco, Latin America and Egypt).
Working hours with US teams
See the data as a table
| Your team | Overlap with a 9–5 CET day |
|---|---|
| New York (ET) | 09:00–11:00 ET (15:00–17:00 CET) |
| San Francisco (PT) | None on a standard day; agree a shifted schedule |
Hiring for Europe or the UK? The workday lines up almost entirely.
How we hire developers: about 20 days
- English, written and oral, including explaining a technical decision to a non-technical stakeholder.
- Live coding in the candidate's main language and framework, with our technical interviewer.
- Take-home task scoped to your stack and reviewed for structure, tests and readability.
- Background check, contract and NDA: a government-stamped, locally compliant contractor agreement that assigns IP to your company.
- TypeScript / React
- Node.js
- Python / Django
- Java / Spring
- C# / .NET
- PHP / Laravel
- Go
- Kotlin · Swift
- AWS · Azure · GCP
- QA automation
- Data engineering
What an Eastern European developer costs
Pay is confirmed on your call. Developer pay in Poland, Hungary and Romania depends on seniority, stack and city, so we quote it for your role rather than publish a range. For context, a US software developer's median wage is $65.38 an hour, about $16,200 a month with benefits and payroll costs (BLS, May 2025 × 1.43).
You pay nothing until you hire, then a one-time fixed placement fee by role, with no monthly markup or retainer unless you want us to handle payment and management, which carries a small retainer. You choose how your hire is paid: Talentige handles payment and management for a small monthly retainer, or you pay your hire directly in USD, CAD, EUR, AUD or GBP with our guidance on the best option for their country (Wise, Remitely, a direct bank transfer or another local option). Hubstaff time tracking is set up during onboarding. Estimate other roles in the overseas hiring cost calculator or compare models in our EOR vs staffing agency vs Upwork guide.
The first 30 days
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Day 1–3 | Repo, environments and tickets access; pairing session with your lead |
| Week 1 | First small pull requests merged; your conventions learned |
| Weeks 2–3 | Owns a feature end to end, joins stand-ups in the overlap window |
| Day 30 | Review with you; the 90-day replacement guarantee still runs |
Your developer is a full-time contractor who joins your team only, follows your holiday calendar apart from one or two local holidays a year, and works your tools. See all our markets on hire overseas employees and how it works.
Add a senior-quality developer to your team
Tell us your stack, seniority and hours. You'll meet 3–5 developers who passed live coding and a take-home task in about 20 days.
Book a free hiring call →Pay nothing until you hire · 3–5 vetted finalists · 90-day replacement guarantee
Hiring from the UK? See offshore staff for UK businesses.
Hiring in Eastern Europe: FAQs
Which Eastern European countries do you recruit developers in?
How much does it cost to hire a developer in Eastern Europe?
How do you test developers?
How long does it take to hire?
Who owns the code?
Will the developer work US hours?
Is the developer exclusive to my company?
Sources
- Eurostat, Employed ICT specialists, total (isoc_sks_itspt), 2024–2025, thousands of persons and % of total employment: Poland 778.8 (4.5%), Hungary 212.5 (4.6%), Romania 207.8 (2.7%), EU-27 10,450.8 (5.0%), retrieved via the Eurostat API (updated April 2026). ec.europa.eu
- EF Education First, EF English Proficiency Index 2025: Romania 605 (#11), Poland 600 (#15), Hungary 590 (#22) of 123 countries and regions; global average 488. ef.com
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national median hourly wages, all industries, via the BLS Public Data API: software developers (15-1252) $65.38 (series OEUN000000000000015125208). bls.gov
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – June 2026 (released September 9, 2026), private industry: total compensation $46.89 per hour worked, wages and salaries $32.82. Multiplier 46.89 ÷ 32.82 = 1.43. bls.gov
- Time zones: IANA time zone database (Europe/Warsaw, Europe/Budapest, Europe/Bucharest, America/New_York, America/Los_Angeles), standard time.
- Talentige placement data (as of October 2026): 1,750+ hires in total, including 500+ in Morocco, 250+ in Egypt, 500+ in the Philippines and 500+ across Latin America; typical monthly pay ranges, timelines, screening process, holiday arrangements and payment currency are based on Talentige placements.