Cpl's salary report CEE Salary Guide 2024

Cpl, a global provider of innovative recruitment solutions and an expert in talent acquisition and development, has just released the latest version of its salary report 'CEE Salary Guide 2024'. The document presents the latest trends and challenges facing the labour market in 5 countries of the CEE region: Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. The company also presents a comprehensive overview of salaries in the IT, SSC/BPO, financial, retail, logistics and marketing industries.

The salary ranges presented in the 4th edition of Cpl's "CEE Salary Guide 2024" report have been compiled based on data from recruitment processes conducted by Cpl in Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary. The salary rates included in the document represent the average monthly gross salaries (for Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) and average monthly net salaries (for Bulgaria) per employment contract offered to candidates in recruitment processes conducted by Cpl Poland and do not include additional benefits offered to employees.

The IT industry is slowing down

Faced with a difficult macroeconomic situation, the IT industry has noticeably slowed down and is in a state of transition. The wave of layoffs in 2023 has clearly affected the sector, and the effects of this will still be felt in 2024. Nevertheless, the demand for IT professionals in the market remains - although it is not as large and dynamic as in previous years. IT companies have faced a number of challenges and difficult decisions. Some have been forced to make difficult choices, in the form of redundancies and job cuts, wage freezes, while others have taken a cautious approach, prioritising slow but steady growth in uncertain times.

The level of earnings of IT specialists depends primarily on experience and the position held, but the area of specialisation is not insignificant - the differences are even tens of thousands. Cpl experts estimate that salaries in the IT industry will remain at the same level in the majority of specialisations and the increases will concern only a narrow group of the most sought-after specialisations and will not be as spectacular as in previous years. Current rates in the IT industry in Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Hungary:

Software Developer C/C++

• Poland          avg. 15 000 PLN gross
• Czechia        avg. 15 703 PLN gross (90 000 CZK)
• Slovakia       avg. 11 239 PLN gross (2 600 EUR)
• Hungary       avg. 14 014 PLN gross (1 240 000 HUF)
• Bulgaria       avg. 14 401 PLN net (6 500 BGN)

Software Developer Java

• Poland         avg. 18 500 PLN gross
• Czechia        avg. 17 703 PLN gross (90 000 CZK)
• Slovakia       avg. 12 535 PLN gross (2 900 EUR)
• Hungary      avg. 12 121 PLN gross (1 072 500 HUF)
• Bulgaria       avg. 15 155 PLN net (6 850 BGN)

Data Scientist

• Poland 23 500 PLN gross
• Czechia        avg. 17 448 PLN gross (100 000 CZK)
• Slovakia       avg. 14 912 PLN gross (3450 EUR)
• Hungary      avg. 10 002 PLN gross (885 000 HUF)

Business Intelligence Developer

• Poland avg. 16 000 PLN gross
• Czechia        avg. 13 087 PLN gross (75 000 CZK)
• Slovakia       avg. 10 458 PLN gross (2400 EUR),
• Hungary      avg. 12 523 PLN gross (1 108 000 HUF)

The data cited above is only a small part of the statistics presented in Cpl's 'CEE Salary Guide 2024' report. The results of the survey, together with expert opinions and forecasts for 2024, are available at  CEE Salary Guide 2024 (cpl.com)

Flexibility and stability

When looking at market trends in Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, competing for qualified professionals continues to be a challenge for organisations, even if some businesses are taking a fairly measured approach to hiring whilst monitoring the current economic environment. Candidates taking part in recruitment processes, pay attention mainly to a flexible working model (remote and/or hybrid), a competitive salary adapted to a rapidly changing market, the possibility to choose the form of employment (employment contract or B2B), the efficiency of the recruitment processes, and the support offered in terms of upskilling and opportunities to participate in training courses.

„What we are witnessing more and more is the impact of transformation in the workplace culture. This process manifests in the increased expectations of candidates towards future employers on issues pertaining to work-life balance. The expectation that employers will respect employees’ preferences in this regard is already widely articulated by candidates looking to change jobs and it is often a reason for changing job or rejecting a new opportunity.” – Claudia Ciocca, CPL’s CEE Director

The organisations that are most successful in attracting talent are also those providing stability, in addition to responding to emerging candidate needs, and strategically using flexible collaboration solutions in uncertain times - whether contractual or outsourced for key roles and projects. A good example of this is IT workers in CEE, who are increasingly choosing B2B contracts as their preferred form of employment. This is a trend we notice in all 5 countries analysed. Although they differ in the level of commitment of candidates and employers to this form of cooperation, they share a common denominator in the benefits of this form of employment.

A third force in the labour market

Already in 2023, we knew that artificial intelligence had conquered the job market and that it would stay with us for a long time to come. In 2024, we will see the emergence of new areas of work, including jobs and skills related to AI.

“At Cpl, we observe trends emerging on the market related to greater demand for IT specialists in the area of Machine Learning Engineer, Data Scientist, AI Architect, AI Researcher, AI Engineer, DevOps Engineer related to AI. In turn, the SSC/BPO sector has already partially used AI-based solutions to automate the simplest work related to customer service, etc. However, in the coming years, this industry will be revolutionized, which will result in the elimination of some positions, their replacement by AI and the creation of completely new roles in the organisation.” – Katarzyna Piotrowska, Cpl Poland’s Country Manager

Transformation is the key word for candidates and employers in this decade. Changes that took entire generations in previous years are happening much faster today. The key to any organisation's success in the AI era will be to find its place and identify its own needs as well as those of its customers well enough to guide the organisation through the transformation. Employers should ensure that employees have the opportunity to learn new skills or even retrain as quickly as possible, thereby increasing the company's competitiveness in the labour market.