Breaking Barriers: Adecco Serbia's Bold Strategy to Empower Local IT Talent
Expanding into a new market is always a challenge, especially when it comes to securing top IT talent. Many companies look to Serbia for skilled developers, but navigating local regulations and employment laws can be complex. To understand how companies can successfully hire in Serbia without setting up a legal entity, we spoke with Adecco Serbia, a recruitment and employment services provider with two decades of experience. They have helped numerous global IT firms find, onboard, and manage top professionals in the local market.
From handling legal employment processes to offering additional support like salary administration and office services, Adecco has positioned itself as a key partner for companies looking to tap into Serbia’s IT talent pool. But how did they recognize this opportunity, and what sets them apart from global payroll providers? Let’s dive in.
How did Adecco recognize the opportunity for employment of IT professionals in the local market, given that Adecco is usually recognized as an employment agency for basic profiles and traditional industries such as production?
"As we are working in a multinational company, we have a lot of connections within the international market, where companies that don’t have an entity in Serbia use us as a formal employer for their local representatives, due to positive collaboration with Adecco in the other markets. Historically, this was primarily reserved for Sales & Marketing roles within the FMCG industry, but within the last 5 years, the number of IT staff employed this way has slowly risen.
We saw bigger potential in the IT industry when the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted amendments to the Personal Income Tax Law, which introduced the proposal of the Working Group for resolving the status of individuals working online into the law back in 2022. Within the complexity and uncertainty related to personal taxation, Adecco has shown up as a secure connection between IT experts who previously worked as freelancers, where full-time employment additionally brought high governmental incentives which Adecco could offer to those individuals as well as to their clients who paid lower taxes and contributions for staff employed through us.
As positive feedback from the local market easily spread, we are constantly rising within the employment of IT staff, where we extended within a wide range of services such as office rent, facilities coordination, providing telco & work equipment, obtaining business trips, etc." - says Ivan Vučićević, Country Sales Manager.
How do you differentiate yourself from modern platforms and global payroll providers that can provide employment services such as EOR or PEO?
"Long-term expertise in employment in Serbia within different industries, combined with an employer-centric approach, gives us a significant advantage.
Each employee has their own HR Administration Officer who acts as a single point of contact for all necessary tasks related to employment in Serbia. With the help of the HR Administration Officer, employees can rely on all needed documents being delivered on time. Adecco supports all its employees when it comes to needs for bank or insurance products, so IT individuals can consult the HR Administration Officer for the best offers on the market.
At the end of the day, employment & labor itself can bring complexity, so Adecco is here to support all ideas from both the client and employee side and to present best practices that can easily resolve the majority of situations that may happen.
How do you secure a high level of service towards different clients' demands as well as high expectations from highly experienced individuals who need to work through Adecco?
"As we are currently working with over 2000+ employees for over 150 clients, we have built strong internal processes combined with powerful ERP & HRIS solutions, which are fundamental for stable performance and a high level of delivery for each project.
Clear agreements prior to the beginning of cooperation between all parties (Adecco, Employee, Client) and the adoption of best practices give us the possibility to easily onboard everyone and to ensure that employees would not worry about anything besides their job, which is defined with the client directly.
With a team of 8 experienced HR Administration Officers, Adecco provides this service to IT companies from all over Northern America, the Middle East, and even Southeastern Asia. Our prime duty is to be in line with local legislation all the time and to secure stable employment for our employees, so we take full care to obtain all payments towards our colleagues on time as well as to advise them on all HR purposes which can improve their work by the time they are engaged through Adecco." - answers Nataša Tadić, Operations Manager.
Ivan Vučićević, Nataša Tadić and Marko Milić
How many IT individuals do you currently employ and in which direction is this service going?
"We are serving 350+ employees from the IT industry who are performing jobs for our 30+ multinational clients from all over the world. As we are currently living in uncertain times related to the global crisis, we believe that Adecco can be a secure bridge between companies that are interested in local talent, where companies don’t want to experiment with opening a legal entity or if they are interested in some mid-term project with IT individuals who still prefer classical employment before freelance or some other type of engagement.
By being part of a multinational system where those services are provided differently within international markets, we keep our focus on the local IT community where our success is measured by the knowledge of individuals about the existence of this service and all the possibilities & benefits brought by using it both for individuals and clients.
Conclusion
As Serbia’s IT sector grows, Adecco Serbia remains a key partner for companies seeking top talent without the complexity of setting up a local entity. Their expertise in employment services, combined with a human-first approach, ensures compliance and stability for both businesses and IT professionals.
By bridging the gap between global companies and local talent, Adecco continues to provide seamless employment solutions in an evolving industry.
👉 Check out Adecco Serbia’s profile on Joberty to learn more about their services and opportunities!
