Romania vs. CEE: Where’s The Best Place to Outsource IT?

Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has become a go-to spot for many US and Western European companies that want to outsource their IT operations.

If you’re scouting the CEE region for specialized IT talent, Romania should be at the top of your list.

Romania, one of Europe’s fastest-growing tech epicenters, offers a unique advantage over other CEE outsourcing destinations: a highly skilled workforce of software developers with strong academic backgrounds, excellent English language skills, and a deep understanding of Western work culture.

This article will explore the IT industry in Romania and explain why outsourcing your IT needs to this country is a smart choice for your tech company.

Overview of the Romanian IT Sector

1. Market Value

Romania’s IT sector has surpassed €9 billion (approximately $9.8 billion) and could potentially double in size by 2028.

The industry is a major contributor to the Romanian economy, accounting for over 8% of GDP. But it’s also becoming a leading player in the global IT market, especially in the IT outsourcing segment. Here’s what the data shows:

IT service exports from Romania reached nearly $9.8 billion in 2022, up from previous years.
Romania is among the top 15 countries worldwide for general IT outsourcing and ranks 8th globally for software development outsourcing.
IT outsourcing in Romania will be worth $455.5 million in 2024.

The country is primed for ongoing IT growth, which will spur digital economic progress and attract more foreign investment.

2. Business Environment

The business climate in Romania is growing stronger year after year. Here’s a look at how it has progressed recently and what’s driving this growth.

THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT IN ROMANIA
ASPECT	DETAILS
STARTUP ECOSYSTEM	Romania’s startup ecosystem was ranked 7th in the region in 2022, showcasing significant competitiveness in sectors such as software and food tech.
STARTUP ACCELERATORS	Innovation Labs, Orange Fab, and InnovX are some of the country’s leading accelerators. The latter was named the 11th best startup hub in Europe by The Financial Times. Romania has the second-highest overall score among CEE countries in the same ranking and is above Poland.
ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURE	Romanians have a strong entrepreneurial spirit and a wide variety of programs to assist them in starting their own business.
ROMANIA – US STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP	Romania’s strong relationship with the US has helped its business environment. American VCs, angels, and other financiers have backed Romanian businesses over the past two decades, making the US one of the top foreign investors in the nation.
EXPANSION INTO THE US MARKET	Romanian software development companies are increasingly venturing into the US market, following in the footsteps of IT giants like Bitdefender, UiPath, and Databricks. Softbinator Technologies joined them by opening offices in Silicon Valley in 2021 and 2024.

3. Tech Hubs

Bucharest is Romania’s largest tech hub and one of the biggest in Europe. Cluj-Napoca, Iași, and Timișoara are other major centers of innovation.

Big companies flock to these cities for software development, engineering, and other IT services. Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM are just a few of the big names that have set up shop in Romania, with more eyeing the opportunity to do the same.

Tech hubs facilitate access to software vendors and host flagship events (e.g. Techsylvania, DevTalks, and How to Web) that draw thousands of attendees each year to network and discuss the latest industry trends. Plus, high-profile summits frequently bring together key players from across business, government, and academia to help drive growth in Romania’s tech sector.

How Romania Became an IT Hotspot

ROMANIA’S RISE TO THE TOP OF THE CEE IT SECTOR
ASPECT	DETAILS
EU AND NATO MEMBERSHIP	Romania joined the European Union and NATO in the early 2000s, leading to increased growth opportunities and enhanced competitiveness.
ONGOING COMMITMENT TO IT EXCELLENCE	Regardless of government or political orientation, the IT sector has always been a key priority in Romania.
TAX EXEMPTIONS	IT employees used to be completely exempt from income taxes. Starting in 2024, this still applies to IT specialists earning up to 10.000 LEI gross per month.
ATTRACTIVE PAY	High salaries (along with the absence of income taxes) have drawn many students into IT careers.
MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM	Romania’s mathematics curriculum is extremely demanding, similar to those in other Eastern Bloc countries.
HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE	IT professionals often gain the skills they need to operate and fix computers as well as other IT&C hardware and software in high school. They also participate in hackathons and other training programs where they work on real-world projects.
EXPOSURE TO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE	Children in Romania begin learning English early in life, which helps them to develop strong language skills that benefit their future careers.

5 Key Reasons to Outsource IT to Romania

1. Top-Quality Software Development and Services Delivered by Tech Experts

With a deep bench of skilled software developers proficient in Java, Python, C++, and other core programming languages, Romania offers high-quality IT services to clients all over the world.

These battle-tested IT specialists have:

Hands-on experience with specialized and sought-after technologies, from React and Angular to AI/ML and the cloud.
Strengths spanning custom-built web/mobile development, quality assurance, cybersecurity, and other high-demand capabilities.
Expertise in delivering high-functional solutions for global brands across e-commerce, finance, healthcare, and beyond.

Romanian software developers are familiar with agile methodologies and Western business culture, making them easy to integrate into globally distributed teams. They’re also comfortable working remotely with international brands across different time zones, which means they can accommodate US nighttime hours with some overlap for real-time collaboration.

2. Competitive Talent

In five short years, employment in the Romanian IT field has swelled from 180.000 to over 200.000. Below are some quick insights into the talent landscape and the key factor that has helped Romania cultivate its fast-growing pool of gifted IT professionals: the education system.

ROMANIA’S TALENT LANDSCAPE AND EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE
ASPECT	DETAILS
CERTIFIED IT SPECIALISTS PER CAPITA	Romania ranks 6th worldwide, surpassing even the US.
TALENT COMPETITIVENESS WITHIN THE CEE REGION	Romania comes in 3rd, behind only Poland and Hungary. This is a notable achievement, given that these two countries have a longer history of higher education.
KEY FACTOR HELPING CULTIVATE IT TALENT	The country emphasizes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
STEM CURRICULUM	Romanian students develop strong analytical and problem-solving skills through advanced STEM coursework from elementary school and throughout all levels of education.
HIGHER EDUCATION	Romania has 32 top engineering universities that offer advanced technical training to students.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES	Beyond the classroom, students constantly take part in hackathons, coding camps, and other intensive technology programs.

Romanian students have achieved great success in international STEM olympiads, showing the strength of their educational foundation. Recent achievements include:

Winning the 2024 World Robotics Championship in Houston.
Competing at the International Collegiate Programming Contest against top universities like MIT, Stanford, and Harvard.
Taking home grand prizes from competitions such as the NASA Space Settlement.

“The outstanding results that Romania achieves in IT competitions serve as a magnet, inspiring new generations to follow the same path. This means that a lot of great talent is focused on excelling in computer science, resulting in the IT sector being abundant with high-quality engineers.”
—Marius Dumitran, Lecturer at the University of Bucharest

Technical vs. Business Know-How

Technical professionals may overlook non-technical essentials such as sales, marketing, and business management.

Lecturer Marius Dumitran observes that “many skilled engineers find it challenging to launch new ventures independently and struggle to engage with the high-quality projects they merit.”

That’s why Softbinator Technologies was founded with the goal of bringing years of real-world business experience and expertise from CEO Daniel Ilinca and others on his team to Romania’s best technical talent.

3. Excellent English Skills

People in Romania speak fluent English from a very young age. With no dubbed TV programs and English education starting as early as kindergarten, Romanians achieve native or near-native proficiency.

INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SKILLS AMONG ROMANIAN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
ASPECT	DETAILS
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY	Romania ranks 17th on the English Proficiency Index, ahead of CEE outsourcing destinations like Ukraine, Hungary, and Czechia.
PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION	Romanian software developers have extensive experience working with English-speaking clients. They can correctly understand project specifications and communicate status updates in clear language.
MULTILINGUAL CAPABILITIES	Many IT professionals are multilingual, speaking German, French, Spanish, and other languages—a side benefit of Romania’s Romance language background. This allows them to collaborate with global teams, colleagues, and clients.

4. Strong Growth Potential

Projected to grow at an impressive annual rate of 10.02%, Romania’s IT outsourcing market is expected to reach $734 million by 2029. Key growth areas include:

Web hosting
Application development
Systems administration
Other IT services

Romania leads CEE in IT value added per employee, generating 60% more than Poland. Other projections show that average IT outsourcing spending per employee will hit $55.45 in 2024.

These statistics underscore the expanding capabilities of Romanian software developers and tech companies, who are working hard to make their country a premier global destination for world-class IT services.

5. Well-Developed IT Infrastructure

Romania has a modern IT infrastructure, supported by a high-performance telecommunications network and fast internet connection.

With an average fixed broadband speed that ranks 12th globally (ahead of all other CEE outsourcing destinations), Romania’s strong connectivity allows IT projects to deploy faster and meet timelines without a hitch. Plus, 5G coverage is expanding nationwide—increasing the country’s ability to take on even the most resource-intensive IT initiatives.

Officials from Romania are committed to further upgrading the digital infrastructure for both public and private sectors.

How Romania Compares to the Top CEE Destinations for IT Outsourcing

Conclusion

As the years go on, the trend of outsourcing software development to Central and Eastern European countries will only grow stronger.

Romania is (and will continue to be) a highly sought-after outsourcing destination, as it has a well-developed and ever-evolving IT sector filled with qualified developers ready to take on any project. Many companies in Romania are already known for their ability to deliver high-quality services to businesses of all sizes.

Interested in teaming up with a leading software development vendor in Romania to assemble an all-star technical team for your product? Just get in touch with us!