4 European Cities That Are Hotbeds for Untapped TalentFinding new talent to join your team can be difficult.
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Finding new talent to join your team can be difficult. What are the chances that you will find the right person -- someone with great ideas who immediately clicks with the rest of the team -- in the same city your company is located? If you live in a big city such as London or Berlin, you might have a good chance. But why limit yourself?
My team is made of great people from all over the world. Some of us work remotely but we chat every day and meet up once in a while. Hiring people from different countries and cultures have really enriched my company -- we have different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences so as a team we can get very creative when working together on a project.
As a digital nomad, visiting new places and moving countries every few months, I have a great opportunity to look for new talent all over the world. What I found is that you don't always have to go far to find extraordinary people to join your team -- you just need to know where to look.
1. Stockholm, Sweden
We have all heard about Sweden -- beautiful nature, creative, open-minded people and famous Swedish design. But you'd be foolish to think that is all Sweden to has to offer.
你知道斯德哥尔摩,年代的首都吗weden, wasranked the second most prolific tech hubin the world right after Silicon Valley? According to Bloomberg, it's thesecond most innovative city in the world.
If you're looking for some tech talent, it might be a good idea to book your ticket to Sweden. The country has focused on opening new schools and institution to produce moreSTEM-focused(science, technology, engineering, mathematics) specialists. With almost 200,000 tech workers in Stockholm alone, you can be sure to find some incredible talent to join your team if you're in need of some extraordinary engineers, mathematicians or scientists.
Swedes haveinspiring and modern approaches to work.They want to be more than just an employee -- it is important for them to be a part of something bigger and meaningful, so they reallycommit to the projects they work on. At the same time they make sure to keep a healthy work-life balance, keeping them excited about work and happy about life (you might have heard about the Swedish idea to implementsix-hour working days).
2. Kiev, Ukraine
Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, might not be the first city that comes to mind when thinking about European hotbeds for talent. But there is a reason why outsourcing is one of the most mature sectors of the IT industry in Ukraine -- there are about166,000 IT specialistsand the Ukrainian IT industry is expected to reach$10 billion in value by 2020.
It is important to remember that this potential can be used for so much more than just outsourcing. The Ukrainianstartup sceneis starting to take off. Technovator Wireless Charger, TripMyDream and PetCube are among themost successful Ukrainian startups of 2018.
This boom of IT companies and developers was partly due to favorable government policies which led tocancelling VAT for IT companies and reducing their employees' income tax rate to a symbolic 5 percent.
The reason for such a high number of IT and tech experts is also partly due to truly reasonable costs of education and the number of schools (402 universities and colleges). Obtaining a higher education degree in Ukrainecosts significantly less than in the U.S. or other parts of Europe.
But most importantly, despite the low costs, the quality of education remains high -- so you can be sure your new IT talent knows what they're doing. Ukrainian developers are skilled in a variety of technologies, withJava, C#, JavaScript, PHP and Pythonat the top of their list.
3. Tallinn, Estonia
If you have never been to Estonia before, I recommend you go. This not-so-well-known country is not only beautiful but offers somereally exciting and unusual things to do(have you ever had a chance to visit an underwater prison before?).
But if you are an entrepreneur, there is another reason why you should put a trip to Estonia on your agenda. Estonia is ahotbed for startups-- apparently it only takes about five minutes to register a new company there. This small country, withpopulation of only 1.3 million, holds third place regarding thehighest number of startups per capita. That tells you something about Estonia's potential.
The capital city of Tallinn offers entrepreneurs one ofthe deepest pools of technical talentper person compared to any European capital. For proof look at Skype, Starship Technologies, Teleport or Pipedrive.
Thethree fastest growing sectorsin Estonia are location services, electronics and hardware and engineering and technology. Estonian specialists also include data scientists, system analysts, front-end developers and, most importantly, cybersecurity experts. Other countries could learn a lot from Estonia about e-government and cybersecurity too.
4. Valletta, Malta
Up until recently, Malta was usually considered a great holiday destination. With nice beaches, good weather and interesting history it is a perfect place to relax. But these days Malta is also known for something else -- it's now referred to as the"Blockchain Island."
In recent years the Maltese government has proved to be forward thinking. New laws and blockchain-friendly regulations introduced last year, created ahaven for Cryptocompanies to grow and develop in Malta. Many of the top crypto exchanges have already relocated to this sunny island.
This means that some of the best of the blockchain and tech talent is heading to Malta or is already there. If you come with the right approach, it is impossible not to make great connections and find your new talent in Malta.
TheUniversity of Malta, the highest educational institution in Malta, is a European hotbed of blockchain and AI talent. Many of the lecturers are internationally recognized experts specializing in artificial intelligence, technology and cyber law. Some of them have been key advisors and worked closely with the Maltese government to create modern policies and regulations.
Malta will also soon be the firstcountry in Europe with a nationwide 5G-ready network. Maltese people will be the first ones to enjoy the newest and most advanced mobile network. This small country is extremely forward-thinking making a great use of their AI, tech and law talents.