(P) Is Bucharest a good place for expats in tech? Three computer scientists share their experience
With the tech industry flourishing in Romania, it’s only natural that companies in cities as Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca or Timisoara start attracting talent from abroad.
With the tech industry flourishing in Romania, it’s only natural that companies in cities as Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca or Timisoara start attracting talent from abroad.
For a non-EU citizen, to obtain Romanian working papers is a long, formal and time-consuming process, but once they pass the legal requirements, the country is considered friendly and safe, while the locals are welcoming, making foreigners feel comfortable and part of their culture and tradition.
We talked recently with three expat employees from Adobe Romania, all three involved in tech development and team management in the local subsidiary of the global tech giant Adobe. We wanted to know what they think about Romania, their job and the local tech environment.
One thing we noticed at first was how relaxed they found their own working place, all three appreciating the culture in Adobe Romania, focused on inclusion, diversity, work-life balance, innovation and collaboration.
“The first thing that surprised me was that I was part of a big tech company that had been creating software for decades. Still, the feeling was like being part of a startup in the sense that everyone was concentrating on innovation and collaboration. Even though I didn’t know the Romanian language at all, the colleagues always made me feel no different in any way.” – Filip Stojkovski – Threat Intel Manager.
“When I joined Adobe, I was mostly surprised by how relaxed and easy going the people are. Engineers are always encouraged to get adequate personal time-off, managers are very friendly and always striving to provide the best working conditions, creativity is highly encouraged and there aren’t too many restrictions in terms of how far you want to test your imagination” – Uzoma Ogbonna – Cloud Security Engineer Lead.
“There’s very little scope for any error due to the sheer volume of traffic we handle and we’re always trying to improve our work processes, ensuring at the same time there’s really good work-life balance to prevent burnouts. My teammates are amazing, and every day is a new adventure!” – Sathyajith Bhat – Computer Scientist, Adobe I/O team.
From a market view perspective, they all see the growth, blooming and possibilities in Romania’s tech sector.
“From an initial first glimpse, I see there are a lot of opportunities and the tech industry is certainly booming quite a bit in Romania. I’ve been told that Cluj-Napoca and Bucharest have seen a huge boost in the tech industry, certainly no different from Bangalore. Curiously, the boom in tech industry seems to be limited to select few cities, much like India.” (Sathyajith Bhat)
“I think Romania has one of the fastest-growing IT/Tech sectors in Eastern Europe. And I see this trend to continue in the future. Most of the tech companies are hiring and expanding in Romania because of high-quality deliverables and lower costs. Because of the exponential growth and high demand for IT professionals, companies are going the extra mile in offering generous benefits and a flexible work environment.” (Filip Stojkovski).
