Macedonia is the hidden gem for foreign companies looking for highly skilled, well-educated, and assertive talent. Connect can source and find any role across all industry verticals, whether it’s in IT, Software Development, Finance, Sales and Marketing, or just prudent Back Office Support and Administration. Macedonia offers multi-disciplinary talent for foreign employers, both new and experienced to outsourcing.
Which countries would benefit and how from nearshore outsourcing to Macedonia? (Location, people, labor costs, etc.)
Whoever is clever enough to leverage the location and quality, and skills of the people in Macedonia. For time zone, Macedonia is only 1 hour ahead of the UK and Western Europe, and the afternoon shift is America’s day shift.
English is spoken well with a pleasant accent by local skilled talent, with many German and French bi-lingual speakers too.
Labor costs are 40-70% cheaper than UK, US and Western Europe, with no drop in the quality of talent. And with Connect paying above market salaries, and taking no short cuts on staff well-being and development, we are always sourcing the top 5% of talent available.
What are Macedonians like to work with?
If you need someone or a team who “just gets it” and to feel familiar and fun to work with, then Macedonia is where you should be sourcing.
Macedonians communicative assertively and aren’t afraid of constructive feedback or telling the business what it needs to hear. Equally, you can feel free to hold your Macedonian team to a high standard.
If you’re a UK or US business offshoring a role for the first time, you’ll benefit from a workforce that isn’t shy to provide recommendations regardless of their level. Macedonians are assertive, provide constructive feedback and ask questions. You know you’re getting people who can be reliable partners looking out for your business.
You can expect loyal and reliable talent, who not only execute well and follow process, but can think outside the box and provide practical ideas on helping the business grow.
Talent isn’t just the capital city, Skopje. Connect sources from smaller growing regional BPO hubs, beaming with potential for foreign employers.
How about the country itself? What are some cultural similarities and differences they have with businesses nearshore?
Macedonians are worldly people who love to travel, mingle, and work with others from different cultures. Our corporate values and comprehension are definitely aligned with Western Europe, UK and America.
Many ex-pats study, live, and work aboard for a while, or take up education in one of the many foreign schools in the country. Most Macedonians have family or friends from the countries and cities we service, so we don’t live in a bubble.
Macedonia has a proud long history and culture, with plenty of ways for tourists to spend their time around the country. Once you come to visit your team, you’ll immediately start planning your return. There is plenty to visit, taste, drink and explore.
The Connect difference
Connect was founded on the belief that while talent knows no borders, opportunity often does. Connect offers the highly talented people in our backyard, to the world.
Everything about Connect, from how we operate, how we price, and how we treat our staff – is about improving our clients’ operations, efficiency, and performance long term, and setting up their staff with long term, good paying and fulfilling careers.
In a world of revolving doors and staffing crises’, Connect has proved to be a viable, stable, and very fairly priced option for businesses searching otherwise. We, and the staff we source and place for our clients, very quickly become an asset, not just an expense for our clients. We give our clients a unique competitive advantage.
All we are doing now is expanding our talent pool and model into other attractive countries, with capable smart people behind the operation. It’s a great recipe for success.
Why Connect?
Connect charges zero mark up on labour.
This means two things.
First, it fills your pockets and your staff too. You get the full value of that person’s labour, and they get paid what they are worth, consummate to their experience and skills. This helps with retention and satisfaction at work.
Secondly, there is no bias in the recruiting process. We source and present talent based on their skill and suitability for our business. We are not incentivised or interested in recruiting cheaper or more expensive resources, because we make no money based on what they are paid.
As we grow, you grow too. We don’t rely on lengthy and sneaky contract terms to win your business and perform. We are strictly performance based, with easy in and out terms, because we are confident in product and the quality of our people.
If someone is interested to outsource to Macedonia, what can they expect to be the process?
Recruiting someone is quick and simple in Macedonia. It’s very similar to what our clients are doing onshore.
Connect handles the initial technical and cultural interviews, and background checks, for shortlisting of candidates.
Once you’ve selected who you want, we handle the administration, exchange and execution of employment contracts, and onboarding with your company, our facilities and services, and the relevant State institutions and agencies.
Once we go to market, we could present a shortlist of candidates within 5 business days. Some can start immediately, others, must give notice to current employers which is typically 30 days.
What kinds of businesses will benefit from outsourcing in general and especially in Macedonia?
With few exceptions, only lawyers and doctors are forced to practice in the jurisdiction they are licensed in.
The point is, almost every task, role, or career can be delivered remotely now. The distance of the person delivering it doesn’t really matter.
Businesses should consider every and any role that is better placed offshore, leveraging the lower costs with equal, and often better, talent and service.
I was a customer of various outsourcing models, successfully taking a large portion of development, marketing, and back office and financial administration to the Balkans for many years.
Whether you’re a family business or start up looking for a reliable and flexible talent to get you off the ground and grow, or you are a large enterprise level business looking to build an experienced multi-disciplinary team, Macedonia gives you these proven options.
Given the talent profile and great communication literacy, it is the ideal location to start or continue your offshoring journey.
But Macedonia is a small country.
If you’re looking for 300 staff in under 30 days, no place is going to ideal no matter which country you’re outsourcing to.
Smart outsourcing starts with small and medium sized teams and scales from there. This is where Macedonia’s size is its strength, not its weakness. Good news spreads fast. Community and social networks are strong. It’s relative. There are plenty of skilled people underemployed, unhappy, and underpaid looking for a better opportunity to meet our clients’ demand.
Foreign companies, small, medium, and large, have been using Macedonian talent for decades for the reasons above.
Connect is also quickly expanding into neighbouring countries who enjoy similar talent levels, literacy, value systems and corporate culture, widening our talent pool and depth.
