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The cost of hiring in IT and iGaming is on the rise. In the US and Western Europe, a senior developer can cost a company $7,000–$10,000 per month. In Eastern Europe and CIS countries, that figure ranges from $3,000 to $5,000. Yet, their English proficiency, technical skills, and experience are often identical. Why is this happening, and why is it so advantageous right now?
We spoke with international recruiters at Sigma in Rome – a company that places IT specialists from CIS countries in iGaming companies across the EU.
Their data confirms:
This isn't "cheap labor." This is a highly competitive market where specialists are constantly forced to grow to stay in the profession. Many of them already work with international products, use English daily, and understand remote work standards better than local candidates in some EU countries.
Specialists from product IT are particularly in demand: developers, tech leads, product managers, analysts, DevOps, and QA. These individuals adapt easily to foreign teams because their experience is inherently built on global technologies, tools, and methodologies.
Companies from Germany, the UK, Malta, and Cyprus are increasingly turning to the CIS market not as a "reserve," but as a primary source of talent. This is especially true in niches where speed and flexibility are crucial – such as iGaming, fintech, and SaaS.
Specialists from Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia, and Uzbekistan often register as individual entrepreneurs (IEs) in their jurisdictions, making cooperation legal for European companies. At the same time, their level of training is on par with candidates from Poland or Romania, but at a significantly lower rate.
The CIS market is one of the most "remote-friendly" in the world. Specialists here have been working in distributed teams since the 2010s, using Jira, Notion, Slack, and Zoom as standard. For them, time zone differences are not a problem, but routine. This reduces adaptation time to almost zero.
We collect and analyze such cases – and will soon publish them in the blog section at partnerkin.com/blog. There you'll find examples of how specialists from Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Armenia integrate into European teams faster than local candidates.
We recently placed a Tech Lead from Almaty with a startup in Malta in just 12 days. His rate was $6,200. An equivalent candidate from Berlin asked for $11,500. The difference: $5,300 per month. Within 3 weeks, he was already participating in release planning, leading part of the team, and communicating fluently in English (C1 level). The company saved $63,600 per year – without any loss of quality.
Most IT specialists in CIS countries applying for international positions have a B2–C1 English level. They pass interviews in English, write documentation, and participate in demos. For iGaming, this is sufficient – the language there is technical, not literary.
Many companies fear legal complexities. But with the right scheme, everything is legal:
Some companies try to recruit directly – via LinkedIn or HH. But they encounter:
If you are an IT specialist from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, or Armenia, you have a real chance to go international:
Why Work Through an Agency? Finding a good candidate doesn't mean verifying them. We don't just review resumes. We test skills through real cases, check communication, and provide a 1-month guarantee. If a specialist doesn't fit, we find a new one for free.
Ready to calculate your hiring savings? Write to us on Telegram: @ann_part – we'll send you a personalized salary benchmark for free.
Want to enter the international market? Send your resume on WhatsApp: +7 778 924 7399 – we'll find suitable vacancies within 48 hours.
