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Overseas Recruiting Department | Location Perspectives

10/8/2021

Prepared by Alex Kasynski for C.R. England

Intro

Per our previous experience with some of our clients and some other sucсessfull case studies by other US based carriers (i.e. Nova Lines Inc, LIV Enterprisers Inc, CW Carriers USA Inc) this’s becoming a strong trend to open overseas offices for recruiting, IT development and support, accounting, and dispatching.

If it’s of any relevance for C.R. England we would recommend to focus on 3 main regions - a) Western Balkan countries as a whole with Serbia as the main point in there (plus Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia), b) Ukraine, and c) Poland. All 3 regions have a lot in common that allow them to compete with each other for your attention - in varying degrees along the last 10-15 years they’ve become big centers of outsourcing/outstaffing for Western European and US based companies (largely but not solely for IT sector).

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Below you can find a short overview and pros and cons of each region (focusing more on recruiting positions).

Serbia (Western Balkans)

Serbia is historically the center of the region, and a lot of young people from other Western Balkan countries strive to relocate to Serbia. This can help in searching people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro and relocating them to Belgrade (the capital of Serbia). Languages are different but close enough to make it possible for people from different countries to communicate freely.

Pros:

a wide pool of young people with good English to choose from;

solid number of people who’s already engaged with the US trucking industry;

cheap office spaces;

most people are ready to work as independent contractors and their tax burden is near 12-13% of their income;

average net salary for 1 full time recruiter starts from $13-14 k yearly, which means 14 700 - 15 800 for employer.

Cons:

poor IT infrastructure, unstable Internet connection;

very often Serbians can not be fully loyal to US companies that’s historically predetermined.

Air connection between the United states and Serbia is acceptable - at the moment no straight flights, only 1 stop flights from Salt Lake City, UT to Belgrade, Serbia available. Regular prices - from $1200 to 1900 for a round trip, early planning - $600 to 900 for a round trip.

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U.S. citizens do not need a visa to enter and stay in Serbia for up to 90 days.

Serbians need a visa for entering USA (for business or tourism purposes, you've got to apply for a US B1/B2 Visa).

Poland

Poland is an EU member and one the most fast-growing economies in Europe. This make emigration from Poland quite easy (primarily to UK, Germany, USA) and immigration to Poland (from Belarus, and Ukraine) pretty common.

Here you’ll find one of the most high-quality labor force, but tax burden and wage fund will be the highest as well. Wage fund can be lowered a bit if you’re ready to accept immigrants (primarily from Belarus and Ukraine), or you’re ready to focus not only on Warsaw.

Pros:

a wide pool of locals with good English to choose from;

stable EU business climate and predictable legal system;

a big flow of highly educated immigrants with good English (it will be easy to hire them if you can offer them a contract because a job contract is the easiest way for them to get a residence permit in the country);

there are a number of different regions inside the country in terms of the average salary, Eastern part is historically paid less so we may focus not only on Warsaw;

solid number of people who’s already engaged with the US trucking industry;

overall IT-sector, digital marketing, creative teams, and accounting services (compliant with US standards) are on the high level (especially in comparison with Serbia and in some extent with Ukraine);

comfortable visa regime for USA→Poland and Poland→USA trips.

Cons:

expensive office spaces;

labor force costs x1.5 more than in Serbia, and x2 than in Ukraine;

most people are more willing to work as employees and benefits will cost the company around 40% of their salary;

average net salary for 1 full time recruiter starts from $15k - $16k yearly, that means $21k - $22,4k for the company.

Air connection between the United states and Poland is acceptable - at the moment no straight flights, only 1 stop flights from Salt Lake City, UT to Warsaw available. Regular prices - from $1000 to 1500 for a round trip, early planning - $560 to 800 for a round trip.

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Out of three mentioned countries Poland is the closest one to Denmark. The best way to get from Poland to Denmark is to fly which takes 1h 45m and costs $75 - $300, but a ferry trip to Copenhagen is available daily and costs only $50-150 per person.

U.S. citizens who are allowed to enter may enter Poland for up to 90 days for tourist or business purposes without a visa.

Citizens and nationals of Poland are now eligible to visit the United States for tourism and business purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining a U.S. visa. Under the VWP, they can apply online for authorization to travel to the United States through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

Ukraine

This country is well known for its high level of IT sector, marketing, creative sector. This means we may get people from there - they know how to operate in multicultural remote teams, ready to follow latest project management approaches (Agile oriented, etc).

Pros:

solid number of people who’s already engaged with the US trucking industry;

cheap office spaces;

most people are ready to work as independent contractors and their tax burden is near 6-7% of their income;

average net salary for 1 full time recruiter starts from $9-10 k yearly, which means $9.6k - $10.6k for employer;

good IT infrastructure;

strong IT hub with an attractive taxation framework;

amazing restaurants ;)

Cons:

business climate is less predictable than in Poland/Serbia;

Air connection between the United states and Ukraine is acceptable - at the moment no straight flights, only 1 stop flights from Salt Lake City, UT to Kiev available. Regular prices - from $1150 to 2000 for a round trip, early planning - $580 to 900 for a round trip.

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U.S. citizens who are allowed to enter Ukraine for up to 90 days for tourist or business purposes without a visa.

Ukrainians need a visa for entering USA (very often it’s quite hard for them to get it even having legal and clear reasons).

Summary

Being physically in Poland and starting from mid November I will be able to assist C.R. England to a greater extent in searching people, registration the office, and other issues in this country. It will be easier for me to represent your interests there. But taking into account the pandemic situation I would predict that a great part of all the job (regardless the country choice) should be done remotely. Plus if necessary I’m open for business trips to the Balkans and Ukraine, where I have a wide net of professional contacts in this sphere.

Regardless the country choice and employment relationships (as with company employees or with independent contractors) we strongly recommend a) to utilize services of local legal and tax consultants; b) to get (rent or even buy) a modern office space; c) to assign a local manager who will be in charge of a team coordination, reporting, and will be performing representative tasks.

So Ukraine is the cheapest but less predictable option on a long run distance, Poland is the most expensive but at the same time it’s the closest one to the United States in terms of a business climate, values, etc. Serbia is somewhere in between.

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