What to consider
Beyond cost and scalability, organizations need to consider additional dimensions, including their need for niche talent, collaboration effectiveness, operational stability, and long-term continuity. As such, the assessment of potential nearshore destinations should include the following considerations:
Talent availability
Access to experienced professionals and specialized expertise that match the skill needs influences how quickly teams scale and how effectively projects are delivered. The size, level of competition, and maturity of the local talent market also affect long-term continuity and the ability to expand capabilities over time.
Collaboration
Ease of collaboration is another important consideration. Language proficiency, cultural alignment, geographic proximity, and experience working with international organizations contribute to smoother communication and stronger integration between teams.
Stability, infrastructure & compliance
Organizations should also evaluate the overall stability and infrastructure of a location, including regulatory conditions, digital infrastructure, cybersecurity maturity, and the broader business environment. These factors support resilience, long-term operational consistency, and help reduce delivery risk.
Cost & long-term value
Cost remains part of the decision-making process, but it is most effective when evaluated alongside quality, scalability, continuity, and overall delivery performance.
Destination deep dive: Poland
Nearshoring to Eastern European markets can reduce IT labor costs by 40 to 70 percent compared to Scandinavian markets, with predictable pricing models that support long-term planning¹. It also helps alleviate urgent skill gaps without compromising project velocity or delivery standards, particularly as demand grows for senior specialists and technology-specific expertise that can be difficult to source locally.
Poland has become a powerhouse in this field. The country’s position as a regional logistics hub, with strong infrastructure, transparent governance, and an increasingly digital economy, makes it a preferred nearshoring destination. Danish companies, for example, have increasingly tapped into this highly qualified workforce, benefiting from a labor market rich in IT expertise, business process outsourcing (BPO), shared services (SSC), and R&D talent.
Today, Polish managers frequently lead operations, making integration between local and nearshore teams smoother than ever². With approximately 400,000 software engineers and nearly 60,000 IT companies, Poland also ranks third globally in programming skills and first in Java, making it a top destination for scalable, advanced development work¹.'
Continuing the Danish example, the business case is well-established, with €6 billion in Danish investments and over 750 Danish companies operating locally, employing more than 75,000 people in Poland². These firms are not only driving innovation in IT and R&D but also contributing to fast-growing sectors like renewable energy, defense, medical technology, and advanced manufacturing. Examples include companies like Demant, Falck, and DSV, which have built key R&D hubs in Poland.
Poland’s openness to change and strong institutional ties with Denmark, including EU and NATO partnerships, create a stable foundation for nearshoring success. This also helps ensure that operations follow a reliable legal framework, guided by common EU directives like GDPR, the European Data Act, and the AI Act.
Mixing onshore and nearshore teams
Blended teams, which combine onshore and nearshore resources, are central to establishing an efficient and scalable setup. These teams enable businesses to scale faster, access niche skills in emerging technologies, and maintain operational continuity across geographies.
Collaborative in their nature, the success of blended setups hinges on the ability to integrate nearshore resources in existing teams and business functions. For complex and highly collaborative initiatives, proximity and cultural alignment are becoming increasingly important to maintaining speed, communication quality, and shared business understanding. Especially when organizations are new to working together remotely or when company culture is central to the product, leveraging dedicated local resources for integration is a practical first step.
Working with a Nordic partner that combines local consultancy management with nearshore expertise can help organizations establish clear communication, accountability, and long-term operational stability from the outset. This model helps businesses build trust and consistency while scaling with confidence. The focus is not simply on adding resources, but on finding the right mix of local and nearshore capabilities and integrating these into existing business processes and delivery structures. It allows internal teams to test distributed cooperation within a controlled structure, often starting with a single function or project, before expanding the model more broadly.
Use cases span short-term project delivery, freeing up local resources and supporting long-term digital transformation initiatives. For example, a Nordic company with a deeply collaborative engineering culture may begin with a cross-functional pilot squad in Poland, co-designed with a nearshore partner to match technical, linguistic, and cultural needs. Over time, as trust builds and communication routines become second nature, the model can expand to full-scale product teams.
Conclusion
Choosing the right nearshore destination involves balancing talent access, collaboration, operational stability, and long-term scalability. Organizations that take a structured approach to evaluating both location and delivery setup are often better positioned to build resilient teams and support long-term growth.
Nearshoring with 7N
Explore how 7N helps organizations build scalable nearshore capabilities through trusted partnerships, specialized expertise, and flexible delivery models tailored to long-term business goals.
Read more about nearshoring with 7N or reach out to Jakub Strzemzalski, VP of Nearshoring, to discuss your organization’s nearshore strategy.
Sources:
1. Brainhub: Nearshoring to Eastern Europe - 5 Top Locations (2025)
2. Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce: SSPC Annual Report (2024)
