Poland’s Top Nearshore Hubs for CIOs Hiring Engineers

As financial services firms accelerate digital transformation, CIOs are increasingly looking east. In 2025, Poland has emerged as one of the most strategic nearshore hubs for building resilient and AI-ready engineering teams. Two cities in particular, Gdańsk and Warsaw, rank among the top 20 cities globally for hiring software engineers, and are now leading destinations for financial institutions looking to scale engineering teams with confidence. 

In Karat’s 2025 analysis of engineering talent hubs, Gdańsk ranks #12 and Warsaw #20—both outperforming many Western European cities on talent quality, operational costs, and hiring velocity. Among European cities, Gdańsk is now #3 and Warsaw #5 for elite software engineering talent. These markets are drawing the attention of financial services tech leaders, not just for cost efficiency, but for proximity, compliance alignment, and deep technical skill.

Why Poland Is Drawing Interest From the Financial Services CIOs

1. Highly Skilled Talent Pool

Poland boasts Central and Eastern Europe’s largest tech workforce, with more than 650,000 engineers and tech professionals. With over 74,000 new STEM graduates annually, Poland’s universities rank among the most competitive in Europe. In the 2025 SCImago Institutions Rankings, four Polish institutions, including the University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology, ranked in the top 10 for computer science within the CEE region.

Polish engineers consistently perform at the top of international coding competitions, with the country ranking second globally in the International Olympiad in Informatics. Importantly for financial services, Poland’s developer base is especially strong in cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and AI model integration—critical skills for firms deploying generative AI responsibly across regulated environments.

2. Strong Public-Sector Support and EU Alignment

Poland continues to invest heavily in its digital economy, with the government announcing $240M in AI funding and formalizing a Digital Competence Development Programme to align university training with enterprise needs. As an EU member, Poland also maintains data sovereignty standards and GDPR compliance, simplifying legal and operational oversight for UK-based and US-based organizations.

3. Cost-Efficient 

Hiring in Poland offers significant cost advantages. Among the top 50 global engineering hubs, Gdańsk ranks 32nd and Warsaw 29th in cost. These are well below UK- and US-averages. In addition to competitive salaries, Poland’s corporate tax rate of 19% is favorable for firms considering regional development centers or strategic vendor partnerships. 

Challenges CIOs Should Be Aware Of

1. Talent Shortage in Emerging Technologies

Despite the size of its workforce, Poland, like much of Europe, is seeing demand rise for experienced engineers specializing in cybersecurity, AI, and big data. While the concentration of quality candidates for backend, full-stack, and front-end roles is world-class, the concentration of experts in emerging technology like AI is…well…emerging. 

Given time, we expect the robust investments in STEM education to produce a growing talent pool, but for now, the AI market remains nascent. Firms with clearly defined AI strategies and robust onboarding can offset this by recruiting mid-level candidates with strong problem-solving abilities and investing in targeted upskilling.

2. High Competition for Top Talent

Gdańsk and Warsaw have attracted engineering hubs from Amazon, Intel, Goldman Sachs, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. With global demand rising, financial services firms will need to move quickly, present competitive offers, and clearly articulate career growth and remote flexibility to win top-tier candidates.

What This Means for CIOs 

For CIOs navigating rising delivery expectations, compliance pressure, and evolving AI strategies, Poland offers a strategic nearshore solution. Time zone alignment with the UK, a highly educated talent base, and proximity to key markets like Germany and Switzerland make Warsaw and Gdańsk ideal cities to establish satellite teams or extend vendor networks.

As generative AI reshapes everything from fraud detection to trading infrastructure, engineering teams must now be evaluated not just for raw coding skills—but for judgment, collaboration, and their ability to work effectively with AI systems. Poland’s growing technical ecosystem provides an ideal environment to build and scale those teams.

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