3 countries, 1 profession: How developers live and work in Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Poland

Let’s explore how the lives of IT professionals differ in three countries — from working conditions and salaries to mentality, demand, and career opportunities.

Armenia

Lilit Sargsyan, city — Yerevan, React Senior Software Engineer

About Me

I am a senior frontend developer with nearly nine years of experience. My interest in the profession arose even in school, and after graduating, I enrolled in the IT faculty, knowing exactly that I wanted to work with computers.

During my studies, I simultaneously took courses and studied materials not only in frontend. Although without a clear direction, this gave me a valuable foundation. The first language I learned was C. It helped me understand typing and memory management. I also studied network technologies, internet connection architecture, and later Python, Bash, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and TypeScript.

I started my career as a junior specialist: I wrote code in all these languages, tried myself even in testing. Over time, having an understanding of how everything works from the inside, I decided to focus on creating web applications and delve deeper into frontend development.

About the Profession and Work Features

In Armenia, one of the key features of developers' work is the level of salaries: even the starting rate is higher than the average across the country. I only had remote work experience with foreign teams, and I can say that processes are mainly not different.

In terms of communication culture, we are used to showing basic respect, support, and understanding — not because it is a corporate norm, but because people are sincerely attentive and ready to help, often expecting nothing in return, except perhaps a cup of black coffee as a treat. In terms of approaches, everything is quite standard: most often, Scrum is used, which is found almost everywhere. Technologies are typical for frontend — React, Angular, TypeScript, Node.js. However, the specific stack and technology versions strictly depend on the customer's needs.

The developer profession is in demand in Armenia. Many parents direct their children to IT from childhood. Dozens of local and international companies operate in the country. Competition is high, as more and more people are mastering programming.

Industry and Career

In our field, job search is complicated by high competition: a large number of applicants and growing employer requirements for skills and experience. As for foreigners, I do not have accurate information about the difficulties of their employment, but in recent years, many specialists from abroad have appeared in Armenia, and their number continues to grow. This probably indicates favorable working conditions.

Salary and Standard of Living

The salary level depends on experience and averages from $750 to $5500 per month.

Salary bonuses depend on the company. As a rule, medical insurance is always provided. Sometimes expenses for sports memberships are covered.

In Armenia, developers' salaries are generally sufficient to cover basic expenses: housing rent, food, clothing. You can also save for a full vacation and leave money for entertainment. In Yerevan, due to high prices, funds may sometimes be insufficient, but much depends on lifestyle. Overall, IT salaries are significantly higher than in the public sector.

For those who want to work in IT in Armenia, I advise developing versatile skills, delving into one direction and understanding related technologies. It is also useful to attend IT events and conferences — they take place regularly and help build professional connections and keep up with trends.

Tips

When looking for a job, I advise paying attention to the work format: most companies offer office or hybrid formats.

I did not notice any pitfalls as such. Companies usually do not change conditions after employment if all issues were discussed in advance. To avoid surprises, I recommend asking all questions of interest in advance, getting to know the team, and clearly understanding which company you are joining.

Kazakhstan

Guldana Kystaubayeva, city — Astana, Mobile Developer at Kazdream Group

About Me

I am a mobile developer at Kazdream Group, working in commercial development for about six years.

I graduated from the Kazakh-British Technical University in Almaty, Faculty of Information Technologies. Immediately after graduation, I completed an internship at Chocofamily, where I later received an offer and started my career.

About the Profession and Work Features

I was lucky enough to work in Stockholm, Sweden. My previous company was related to food delivery, so I was a perfect fit for the role of Android developer at Instabox — a parcel delivery service. After a successful interview, I received an offer and was offered relocation, which I gladly accepted.

Instabox is based in Sweden but also operates in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium. The work culture in Kazakhstan and Scandinavian countries, for example, Sweden, is very different. In Europe, employers and employees value work-life balance. My workload was less than in Kazakhstan. Teams are mostly self-organized, and I did not have a project manager as such. This helped me develop discipline and independence.

In my work, I use Kotlin, sometimes Java, as well as the Kotlin Multiplatform technology, which allows writing applications for Android, iOS, and even Desktop.

In both Kazakhstan and Sweden, I mainly worked on internal mobile applications for couriers. In Sweden, my team and I implemented a project using KMP — it was an interesting and ambitious task that allowed us to introduce innovations into the product.

Industry and Career

Mobile development is popular both here and around the world. Currently, competition is high, and there are fewer offers in the market than in web development, which remains more common. Nevertheless, I have never regretted my choice — I love the Kotlin language and its capabilities for solving tasks.

I did not feel barriers in job search, perhaps due to fluent English. Therefore, for those planning relocation or remote work with foreign companies, I highly recommend studying the language.

Salary and Standard of Living

There is information about salary ranges for IT specialists in open sources. And I believe their data corresponds to reality.

The social package in Europe and Kazakhstan is standard: medical insurance and partial payment for fitness. 

My salary is enough for a comfortable life in Kazakhstan, in Astana. 

Tips

I would advise getting a technical education — university gave me not only knowledge but also networking in the IT environment. It is longer than courses, but in my opinion, it provides a more solid foundation. I also recommend learning English and developing soft skills — it is important not only to write code but also to work effectively in a team.

When looking for a job, it is worth carefully reading the contract and social package conditions to understand what awaits you. For me, the company's business sphere is also important — for example, I fundamentally do not consider offers from the gambling industry, which is quite common in Sweden.

In Sweden, I had more vacation days: there, weekends are not included in vacation, so I rested eight days more than in Kazakhstan — it was pleasant.

Poland

Zhildyz Argynbayeva, city — Warsaw, Technical Solutions Engineer at Planet

About Me

I work as a programmer, in IT for four years, before that I worked as a lawyer. I am one of those who changed professions and do not regret it at all. I have a higher legal education and graduated from a master's program in Kyiv in finance.

I had a turning point in my life related to family, and I realized that I could not be just a wife/mother/lawyer as before. First, I enrolled in a master's program in finance, and immediately after graduating — into an American bootcamp for frontend development. Half a year before the course started, I began actively improving my English to cope with the studies.

During my studies, I helped beginners and conducted additional classes, after graduation I became a mentor and worked online from Ukraine.

We lived in Kyiv, where my husband worked as a consul of Kyrgyzstan. Later, we decided to move, and chose Warsaw — due to my daughter's frequent rehabilitations.

My husband left his career at the embassy, and we moved to Poland, starting everything from scratch. I started looking for a job in the Polish market — the country turned out to be ideal for our family due to the attitude towards children with special needs, infrastructure, and the availability of specialized kindergartens and schools. We found a suitable kindergarten for my daughter.

Looking for a job was difficult: I lost confidence, not all companies wanted to issue a work permit. But I was lucky — after the interview, the employer agreed to wait and issued all the documents.

About the Profession and Work Features

The main feature of work in Poland is a friendly atmosphere and support from the manager, while it is important to show results.

In the team, we use JavaScript, Python, and SQL. One of the key projects is process automation: we created an application that replaces routine tasks for several teams. This gave me valuable experience and the opportunity to prove myself.

Industry and Career

In Poland, it is quite realistic to find a job with good hard and soft skills — there is competition, but everything is possible.

It is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get a job without a work permit. But with a full set of documents — the chances are significantly higher.

Salary and Standard of Living

The salary level depends on experience and averages from $2500 to $7000 including taxes. Currently, I have a middle level. The basic social package usually includes medical insurance, service in private clinics, gym membership, access to educational platforms, and for foreign employees, the company arranges a residence permit. Such an income is enough to cover rent, food, clothing, additional expenses, and vacation trips.

Tips

It is important to constantly develop your knowledge and skills, and I also plan to complete a master's degree in Poland. The laws work well here, and employees are protected — companies strictly follow the rules.

When looking for a job, it is worth paying attention to the hiring manager — how comfortable it is to communicate and work with him. And having all the necessary documents significantly simplifies employment.