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A Glance at Today’s Job Market
One important disclaimer: most recruiters we spoke with are cautious about broad labels such as “Eastern Europe” or “post-Soviet space.” According to them, the ability to clearly explain one’s experience and demonstrate genuine motivation matters far more than a passport or country of origin. Still, we asked our experts to recall cases of specific perception toward candidates from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in order to capture how the European labor market has changed since 2022.
Many factors influence the market beyond military conflict. Companies are freezing hiring, laying off staff, introducing AI, and testing new optimization models. Some professions are losing relevance altogether. According to career expert Maria Blinova, CEO of the UK-based education project Leaders First, today’s candidates are not facing a shortage of vacancies but increasingly rigid hiring filters. These include requirements for local experience and the national language, high expectations around digital skills, lengthy multi-stage recruitment processes, and the growing phenomenon of overqualification.
“After the period of active hiring during the pandemic, the market entered a correction phase. Mass layoffs at large companies and the accelerated adoption of AI have led to the elimination of entire functions and teams. Even when revenues are growing, companies are now increasingly factoring planned headcount reductions of 10–15% per year into their strategies.”
At the same time, she notes that in sectors with a persistent talent shortage, such as healthcare, engineering, the green economy, and skilled trades, migrants continue to meet real market needs rather than displacing local professionals.
“The most difficult roles to secure today are prestigious office and corporate positions, particularly in IT management, data and product roles, strategy, consulting, marketing, finance, and C-level positions. This is especially true in major cities and international hubs like London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris. In these locations, the high concentration of highly skilled migrants has intensified competition, while overall hiring volumes have declined since 2023–2025.”
Lana Kipnis, a Silicon Valley expert in organizational processes and team development who has been working in Germany in recent years, believes that the European job market is going through one of its most difficult periods:
“Even candidates with strong skills and outstanding experience are not able to find new opportunities. Applications sent through LinkedIn, Xing, Indeed fall into a black hole, and 99.9% of them receive an automated reply.”
Candidates from the post-Soviet region face additional hurdles: visa requirements often make them less competitive. What advice are European recruiters willing to offer?
Language as the primary filter
You may have noticed that many vacancies — especially in large corporations — are published in English, only for it to become clear during the interview process that knowledge of the local language is expected. This may feel unfair, but it is a common barrier for specialists from Eastern Europe.
The reason is simple: everyday working life usually happens in the national language. According to Ophelia (name changed at her request), who recruited sales consultants for major Parisian department stores, insufficient French is a real deal-breaker in the luxury sector. The language is essential for team integration, even if most customers speak English.
Italy presents a similar picture. Pietro Launo, Head of Sales Italy at Foorban, stresses that even in global companies based in Italy, candidates are expected at least to demonstrate a willingness to learn Italian: “Everyday work happens in Italian: colleagues, suppliers, clients, public offices. English is valuable, but it rarely replaces the need for a solid level of Italian.”
In the UK, English is of course sufficient but communication skills still matter enormously. Candidates are expected to engage in small talks, give vivid examples from their experience, and come across as approachable. Gabriel Raymond Campa, Regional Sales Manager at Eastnets, who spent many years working in recruitment in London, notes that specialists from Eastern Europe often give very restrained answers. They may fear making mistakes, having an accent, or choosing the wrong phrasing, but employers tend to interpret this as a lack of interest, initiative, or engagement.
In a European context, answering only the exact question asked almost always works against the candidate. An interview is not an exam; it is a dialogue where thought process and the ability to develop a topic are valued. You do not need to sound like a native speaker but you do need to sustain the conversation and make the most of your language level. Short answers and avoidance of detail often come across as closed-off, insecure, or unmotivated.
How to strengthen your chances
- Focus on conversational, not academic language
Practice talking about your experience and achievements. Mock interviews, speaking clubs, career coaches, and regular calls with native speakers can significantly reduce the fear of speaking. - Learn to elaborate about yourself
STAR-style answers (Situation — Task — Action — Result) help structure your responses and avoid one-word replies, especially for technical specialists. - Work consciously with non-verbal communication
A smile, open posture, eye contact, and a friendly tone matter more than many candidates expect. - Be explicit about your limits and your progress
Saying “I’m actively learning Italian and take classes twice a week” is far better than trying to hide your language level.
Ultimately, language is a marker of integration for employers. It signals how ready a candidate is to join the team, discuss problems, and grow within the company.
CV best practices
Recruiters across countries agree that candidates from Eastern Europe most often lose out at the very first screening stage. On average, a recruiter spends three to five seconds reviewing a CV, which means the document must be clear, structured, and adapted to the market. As Gabriel Campa notes, the inability to clearly define one’s role and articulate work experience is a pan-European problem, not a regional one.
What to keep in mind when preparing your CV:
- Length: 1–2 pages. Long, overloaded CVs are rarely read to the end.
- A short professional summary at the top. Two or three lines explaining who you are, your field, and the role you are seeking help recruiters immediately grasp your profile.
- Focus on outcomes, not duties. Replace task lists with concrete achievements, ideally supported by numbers, metrics, and business impact.
- Clear, simple wording. Your CV is written for a recruiter, not a narrow technical expert.
- Tailoring to the role. Small adjustments — keywords, emphasis, priorities — significantly increase response rates.
- A thoughtful approach to soft skills. Avoid generic claims like “proactive” or “stress-resistant.” Choose two or three traits that truly define you and briefly show how they appear in your daily work.
- Clean layout and readability. Legible fonts, clear structure, and enough white space make your CV easy to scan.
- A good photo. While companies should not discriminate based on appearance, a professional, friendly photo can humanize your profile.
- LinkedIn as an extension of your CV. A complete profile with a photo, clear headline, company descriptions, and a structured list of responsibilities and technologies is essential.
A strong CV is clear, honest, and easy to read. This is often what separates candidates who get interviews from those whose applications go unanswered.
What to expect from interviews with European companies
Interviews are another area where cultural differences become particularly visible. In the UK, companies are worried about staff turnover, so they look not only for technical competence but also for engagement, interest in the role, and a sense of future within the company. Gabriel Campa notes that candidates from Eastern Europe often answer concisely and to the point but fail to add detail unless prompted — which can make even strong profiles seem less convincing.
In Italy, as Pietro Launo observes, skipping small talk may be perceived as coldness, even if he personally appreciates a direct style. In technical roles, restrained communication can be offset by strong skills, but in positions involving clients or people management, the ability to build rapport becomes decisive.
In France, particularly in the luxury sector, soft skills are paramount. According to Ophelia, technical knowledge can be learned on the job.
Key qualities in the French luxury sector include:
- confidence when dealing with demanding clients
- a deep understanding of service
- the ability to listen
- proficiency in at least French and English; a third language — Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, or others — is often a decisive advantage
Teamwork and cultural dynamics
Most recruiters agree that candidates from post-Soviet countries are seen as independent, reliable, and highly responsible professionals. At the same time, their teamwork style may differ from Western European expectations. Gabriel Campa points out the risks of overly direct feedback: in British culture, criticism is usually delivered gently and politely.
In Italy, where workplace culture is more flexible and informal, Eastern European discipline and task focus can appear overly rigid. That said, companies do not expect perfect cultural fluency — curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to learn the language matter far more.
In fully remote international teams, as emphasized by Alexandra Voicehovska, Chief Culture, Communications & People Officer at Serokell, transparent communication is critical: providing context, documenting decisions, sharing progress in public channels rather than private messages, and honoring agreements: “The goal is not “always online”, but long-term effectiveness and a respectful, stable team atmosphere.”
What changed after 2022
Almost all recruiters we spoke with describe 2022 as a watershed moment for the European labor market. In the early months of the full-scale war, perceptions of candidates from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus were tense. According to Gabriel Campa, there was an unspoken tendency in the UK to avoid “sensitive” interactions with both sides of the conflict. Today, this effect has largely faded, replaced by pragmatic criteria: visa status and right to work, relevant experience
In Italy, Pietro Launo notes two parallel trends after 2022: a surge of highly qualified migrants and increased competition for mid- and senior-level roles. At the same time, service and hospitality sectors remain key entry points for foreigners. Pietro does not observe systemic nationality-based discrimination: “The real barriers are usually bureaucracy and language.”
In technical fields, logistics, and hospitality, companies tend to be highly pragmatic: if a person is competent and motivated, they have a real chance.
Alexandra Voicehovska believes that regional labels are increasingly irrelevant: “The market is global. Many candidates were born in the 2000s and grew up with English-language internet, [they have] international career paths. Their communication style is often closer to the global tech market than to any regional pattern.”