No one forces IT leaders to be decent, dedicated, and invested in their people’s growth—they choose to be.
Every day, we could write about people leaving the country, and it still wouldn’t be enough. Over 60% of young people under 30 say they’ve considered leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina for good. The numbers are so staggering it’s hard to grasp what strategies could possibly reverse this trend. The labor shortage is painfully real. Last school year, fewer than 3,000 students graduated high school in Sarajevo Canton—compared to 4,500 in 2012.
Fewer students are enrolling in Sarajevo’s universities, and their fields of study are shifting. A decade ago, social sciences and humanities were at their peak; today, it’s medicine and technical faculties. A large number of graduates find their future jobs in information technology and communications, proving that BiH’s economy hasn’t remained immune to the global demand for software solutions. Local entrepreneurs saw this as a massive opportunity—and they weren’t wrong. Simply put, the Balkans can produce top-tier software and export it to developed countries at a fraction of the cost compared to Western Europe or the U.S.
This sector is among the fastest-growing in BiH, expanding by over 70% in the last five years. The Statistics Agency reports more than 1,200 IT firms operating in the country, where net salaries are 50% higher than the Federation average, and the sector exports around 65 million BAM annually. Sarajevo Canton alone hosts over 250 IT companies employing roughly 2,500 people. Within a few years, that number is expected to exceed 6,000, according to research by the Bit Alliance, the association representing the biggest IT players. That means two entire graduating classes from Sarajevo’s high schools won’t be enough to fill all the IT job openings.
These are impressive numbers for an industry that requires no heavy infrastructure—just computers, internet, intelligence, and algorithmic logic (thankfully, we have plenty of that, thanks to exceptional individuals). The formula is simple: let these people work, and they’ll handle the rest.
The IT industry is also growing thanks to returnees from the diaspora. Some of the biggest companies were founded by those who left BiH and later came back. The founders of Mistral, Authority Partners, and ZenDev are well-known faces in the sector. These people didn’t just build successful businesses—they brought back new workplace practices that have fundamentally transformed the traditional employer-employee dynamic here. They offer top-tier working conditions, send employees for training, pay above-average salaries (along with some of the highest taxes and contributions in Europe), socialize with their teams, respect their work, allow them to make mistakes and learn, and support their personal and professional growth.
“Easy for them,” some might scoff. “They’ve got money, so they can play Google.” Sure, they have money—but they also work hard for it and, more importantly, think deeply about values beyond profit. No one forces IT leaders to be decent, dedicated, and invested in their people’s growth—they do it because they know that neither company nor sector growth is possible without inspired, productive employees who show up ready to tackle any challenge, knowing they’ll have support and leave work fulfilled.
Most of that 60% considering emigration say they’d leave because they see no future here. If they stay, does that future lie entirely in IT? Maybe—but that alone won’t create a sustainable economy. What we must learn from the IT sector is this: economic growth depends on satisfied, respected employees who create value not just to survive, but to become better versions of themselves—every single day.
