Poland, Romania and the surrounding markets sit 1 to 2 hours ahead of the UK. Full working day overlap, no accommodation, no shift design required.
The Philippines is 7 to 8 hours ahead of the UK depending on the season. A standard Manila day gives a UK morning overlap. Shifting the Manila start to late morning produces a comfortable 4 to 5 hour overlap with the UK working day without anyone working nights, which is a considerably easier arrangement than the US case.
For most UK roles this is workable rather than decisive. Eastern Europe still wins the factor, but the Philippines does not lose it badly the way it does against US hours.
Market Guides
Philippines vs Eastern Europe for UK and European companies
In short
For UK and European companies, Poland and the wider Eastern European market offer near identical working hours and deep senior engineering talent. The Philippines offers lower cost, a larger English speaking pool, and materially stronger supply in customer facing, finance and operations roles.
UK companies usually consider Eastern Europe first, and often reasonably. The comparison is worth running properly because the two regions are strong in different functions, and the right answer changes depending on which seat you are filling.
Time zone
Engineering talent
Eastern Europe has genuine depth at the senior end of software engineering, particularly in systems, algorithms and infrastructure. The reputation is earned and the market prices accordingly.
The Philippines is deeper in volume at mid level, in enterprise technology and integration work, and in quality assurance and support engineering.
For a hard senior engineering hire, Eastern Europe is often the stronger pool. For building a team of capable mid level engineers who can ship, the Philippines offers more supply per pound spent.
The Philippines is deeper in volume at mid level, in enterprise technology and integration work, and in quality assurance and support engineering.
For a hard senior engineering hire, Eastern Europe is often the stronger pool. For building a team of capable mid level engineers who can ship, the Philippines offers more supply per pound spent.
Cost
The Philippines is generally lower for equivalent seniority, and the gap has widened as demand from Western Europe pushed Eastern European engineering salaries up over the last decade.
Statutory costs in the Philippines add roughly 11 to 16 percent depending on seniority. Employer social contributions across Eastern Europe vary by country and are generally higher as a proportion of salary.
As always, cost should be a tiebreaker rather than the decision. The wrong hire in a lower cost market is not a saving.
Statutory costs in the Philippines add roughly 11 to 16 percent depending on seniority. Employer social contributions across Eastern Europe vary by country and are generally higher as a proportion of salary.
As always, cost should be a tiebreaker rather than the decision. The wrong hire in a lower cost market is not a saving.
Where the Philippines is clearly stronger
Customer facing roles at scale. Support, customer success, account management and sales development into English speaking markets have decades of depth here.
Finance, accounting and audit. A large qualified accountant population with extensive international reporting experience.
Operations, process and business support functions.
Written English for external audiences. This is a real distinction for content, documentation and customer communication roles.
Finance, accounting and audit. A large qualified accountant population with extensive international reporting experience.
Operations, process and business support functions.
Written English for external audiences. This is a real distinction for content, documentation and customer communication roles.
Compliance and employment
Both regions require either a local entity or compliant employment infrastructure. Neither is a place to run informal contractor arrangements for full time roles.
The Philippines is a single legal system with well understood rules and a mature market for employing without your own entity. Employment is employee protective, with security of tenure and a defined dismissal process.
Eastern Europe means choosing a country and learning that country's rules, or accepting variation across several. If you are hiring 1 person, that is a single decision either way. If you are building a distributed European team, it is more complexity.
The Philippines is a single legal system with well understood rules and a mature market for employing without your own entity. Employment is employee protective, with security of tenure and a defined dismissal process.
Eastern Europe means choosing a country and learning that country's rules, or accepting variation across several. If you are hiring 1 person, that is a single decision either way. If you are building a distributed European team, it is more complexity.
How to decide
By function rather than by region.
Senior engineering with heavy live collaboration, Eastern Europe is the natural first look.
Customer facing, finance, operations, quality assurance, or building volume at mid level, the Philippines is the stronger pool and the better economics.
Many companies eventually run both, and there is nothing wrong with that. What does not work is choosing a region first and then trying to fill every role from it.
Senior engineering with heavy live collaboration, Eastern Europe is the natural first look.
Customer facing, finance, operations, quality assurance, or building volume at mid level, the Philippines is the stronger pool and the better economics.
Many companies eventually run both, and there is nothing wrong with that. What does not work is choosing a region first and then trying to fill every role from it.
Hiring in the Philippines?
Book a 30-minute call. We scope your role, share market context, and confirm a realistic timeline. No pitch, no pressure.
Book a FREE 30-minute call