We associate Krakow mainly with the beautiful market square, Wawel, the towers of St. Mary, the Cloth Hall, the Lajkonik, or the extensive history of Poland. It is the second – after Warsaw – the largest city in the country. What’s more, it is one of the world’s fastest-growing and most mature metropolises in the technology sector. Kraków’s IT market is growing at a dizzying pace. It is extremely open and attractive to new investors – both Polish and foreign. Krakow’s companies are constantly opening new branches and departments, consequently, the number of jobs on offer is increasing. What does such intensive recruitment of IT specialists involve? What are the expectations of Krakow programmers towards employers? Is it worth choosing Krakow for IT outsourcing? You will find out in this article.
If you are wondering whether it is worth choosing a Polish city for IT outsourcing, read the article: “5 reasons why you should choose Poland for IT Outsourcing”.
The labor market in Krakow
According to ABSL report, over 80,000 people work in the business services sector in Krakow, of which over 21% are jobs in IT companies. Moreover, the share of centers providing services for the IT industry is over 40%, which makes the city very attractive for programmers and investors. In our report “Prepare for the IT recruitment process in 2022”, Krakow is second on the list of cities with the highest number of job offers (16%). Based on a report created by No Fluff Jobs, the average salary range in this location is PLN 12,000-17,000 gross on an employment contract and PLN 14,000-20,000 on a B2B contract. According to the portal Zarobki.it, the average earnings of programmers in Krakow currently amount to PLN 11,447-16,357 gross. They depend on the seniority of employees – the least earners are Juniors (average gross PLN 5,668-8,337), slightly more Mids (PLN 10,511-15,383 gross), even more for Seniors (PLN 13,226-18,569 gross), while the highest salaries are for Experts (PLN 14,250-20,057 gross). Those most in demand at present are those with medium industry experience, i.e. representing the Mid-level. According to the above report, the most popular technologies include Java, JavaScript, React, Python and SQL.
Based on the analysis of our nationwide report, Krakow is the second most popular city in the IT industry, so we can say that in the capital city of Małopolska backend programmers account for over 35% of all developers. The second-largest group in demand by employers in many cases are frontend developers. These account for almost 19% of the total market. This is followed by full-stack developers (16.6%) and testers (under 9%). Based on the country-wide information, Java and JavaScript were considered the most popular technologies in 2021. However, Krakow is still dominated by Java, which recorded an increase of 14% in all ads concerning the capital city of Małopolska. This is followed by PHP or .NET with slightly less growth.
Based on the No Fluff Jobs reports, we can see that compared to last years, job offers concern .NET technology increased by as much as 80%. Android is not much behind it (72%), as well as Scala and Python (above 60%).
Krakow as a city of IT specialists and experts
Many factors influence the attractiveness of Krakow’s labor market. Above all, the key issue is the very large number of skilled workers. Almost 130,000 people study at Małopolska’s 21 high schools, and over 37,000 new specialists enter the labor market each year. In the employment structure of the modern business services sector in Poland, already more than 50% of employees support advanced processes with high added value, i.e. the difference between the sales revenue and the cost of purchasing services from other companies, says the employment report of the Provincial Labor Office in Krakow.
IT development in Kraków
There are nearly 9,000 students in IT subjects and 7,500 students in language subjects, which is a very attractive market vision for IT business service centers. Hence – according to the Pracuj.pl website – over 16,200 Krakow jobs are offered by such centers. Companies are keen to hire juniors and students for internships, so they have the opportunity to fully implement and develop them.
In the capital of the Małopolskie Voivodeship, many companies from the IT sector start their operations, but the most reputable are those that have been on the market for years. Many of the world’s IT giants have decided to open branches in Kraków. Among the companies that are of particular interest to IT specialists, it is worth mentioning Google, Oracle, Tech Data, IBM and Capgemini – one of the largest employers in the IT sector, employing over 9,400 people in Poland, including nearly 4,400 people on the Małopolska market. The most popular ICT companies, such as Motorola and Cisco, also operate there.
These giants have been running their branches in Krakow for a long time, employing hundreds of IT specialists. These reputable companies are able to provide very attractive financial conditions, also for beginners, which can be seen, for example, in the job offers they publish. People interested in cooperation can gain professional experience in research and development or service centers, under the eye of qualified specialists from the IT industry.
Kraków’s IT market is not only a multitude of job offers. There are also many IT groups there, which create a unique community of people who want to share their knowledge and experience. Participating in meetings organized by these groups gives the opportunity to quickly develop, meet many people with similar interests, or establish many contacts, both business and social.
Krakow’s market square during the pandemic
Due to the pandemic, recent years have been very difficult for many industries, but there are those that, despite the pandemic, managed to remain stable and even recorded increases. Companies that developed during the pandemic include online stores and companies offering courier and transport services, as well as the IT industry, which has a large share in the labor market in Krakow. Currently, the largest percentage of companies belonging to it are involved in the development of applications for enterprises and network solutions, as well as operating in the fintech sector (financial technology). Every year, many new IT companies are opened in Krakow. In 2020, most of them represented the fintech sector. Both large companies and smaller start-ups are still trying to develop in the IT sector in the capital of the Małopolska region.
IT recruitment in Cracow
Undoubtedly, Krakow is an attractive place for IT specialists and investors. The broadly developed base of IT companies provides employment and development opportunities for many employees. Additional advantages of the city are its charm, many attractions, parks or restaurants. The city also has a modern Technology Park and a Special Economic Zone. It is very well connected with other large cities – Katowice, Warsaw or Wrocław. Is it worth relocating to Kraków? Certainly, but at a time when remote work has become commonplace, it may turn out to be an equally good solution. If you want to find out about the advantages and disadvantages of this mode of work, we recommend our article: “Advantages and disadvantages of remote work”. As you can see, Krakow has great potential. There is no shortage of various IT job offers in Małopolska’s capital city and everyone will find something for themselves.
If you are looking for IT specialists for your company or thinking about opening a new branch in Kraków, contact us. We can advise you and help you find the best employees in the IT sector.