How to hire globally without going broke
Early teams need the best people, not a pile of registrations and payroll IDs. An Employer of Record, EOR, lets you hire legally in a country where you do not have a local entity. Ambacia is purpose built for this in Croatia and Serbia, so you can test markets, add a key engineer or account manager, and stay compliant without locking in heavy fixed costs.
Why Ambacia for Croatia and Serbia
- Local-first execution, Ambacia handles employment contracts, payroll, employer taxes, statutory benefits, and HR admin, while you direct the work and culture. That means faster starts and fewer surprises.
- Deep IT focus, useful if your first hires are engineers or technical roles.
- Regional coverage, Croatia and Serbia today, with a broader partner network if you expand further.
Why start in Croatia and Serbia
Strong and growing tech ecosystems, Croatia has scale and momentum, with tens of thousands of ICT specialists and multiple standout success stories, which creates a robust talent pool for startups and scaleups. Serbia combines mature developer hubs like Belgrade and Novi Sad with high English proficiency among IT professionals, which smooths onboarding for globally distributed teams.
Cost discipline without cutting corners, average salary levels and employer on costs are generally lower than Western European capitals, yet you still get EU time zones in Croatia and easy overlap from Serbia, which helps keep burn predictable. EOR lets you price the full picture before you hire, salary plus employer contributions plus EOR fee.
A budget friendly playbook you can run now
- Use EOR for the first 1 to 5 hires per country, validate demand, then revisit. Ambacia can onboard quickly in Croatia and Serbia, with contracts and payroll handled locally.
- Model total monthly cost, not just salary, include employer social contributions and the EOR fee. Ask for an itemized quote, payroll cadence, FX handling, and any add ons like visas or background checks. Market guides for both countries will help you sanity check.
- Avoid misclassification risk, if a contractor looks and behaves like an employee, move them onto EOR to protect IP and reduce back tax exposure. Ambacia’s EOR framework is designed for exactly this shift.
- Localize benefits to statutory plus a small uplift, stay competitive without importing a costly US style package. Use EOR country guides to confirm what is mandatory in Croatia and Serbia.
- Set a graduation trigger, when a country team reaches a defined size or revenue, compare the EOR run rate with forming a local entity. Until then, keep the flexibility.
What to expect when you engage Ambacia
- A clear scope, who is the legal employer, which filings Ambacia owns, how payroll and benefits run, and how terminations are handled, all documented upfront.
- A practical onboarding timeline for Croatia and Serbia, with templates and checklists so your first hire is productive in week one.
- Direct access to local legal and HR expertise, which reduces the risk of penalties or delays that eat your runway.
The simple next step
If your roadmap includes hiring tech talents, expansion or market test, start with EOR. You hire the person you want, Ambacia becomes the legal employer, you stay compliant and cash efficient. When the team and revenue justify it, you can always set up your own entity later.
Learn more or talk to the team here, Ambacia EOR in Croatia and Serbia.
