Build High-Impact Capabilities with Nearshoring

As of 2026, up to 72% of companies report difficulty hiring talent locally with AI skills at the top of the list¹.  Across the Nordics, growing talent shortages are forcing companies to rethink how they solve this problem. Sweden alone faces a shortfall of 70,000 developers, while Denmark is short around 19,000 IT professionals².

Such talent shortages put pressure on internal resources, causing teams to become overstretched:

• Innovation stalls, compounding long-term risk
• Gaps in know-how can compromise project outcomes
• Engagement drops as workloads increase
• Delivery timelines extend, affecting customer satisfaction
• Burnout rises, leading to turnover and lost expertise

These patterns contribute to a loss of agility, which is an increasingly critical metric in today’s volatile market. Without the ability to pivot, business momentum suffers, and organizations fall behind.

Nearshoring offers a more sustainable path forward. By integrating skilled consultants from nearby countries with lower cost levels, companies can:

• Build specialized capabilities
• Distribute workloads and reduce burnout
• Retain local talent by eliminating unnecessary pressure
• Accelerate delivery without compromising internal priorities
• Integrate flexibility, scalability, and resilience into their team structures

AI is changing how teams are built and how work gets done – also in nearshoring. Instead of relying on large development teams, companies increasingly turn to smaller, highly specialized teams that can deliver high-value outcomes while using AI to improve productivity and efficiency.

Today, nearshore partners contribute skills in AI, DevOps, and cloud, enabling companies to build specialized capabilities, not just expand capacity. The Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce reports that Nordic companies particularly value the combination of strong competencies and cultural proximity that can be found among nearshore consultants which facilitates cooperation and knowledge sharing with internal teams.

One of the often-overlooked benefits is the inspiration and knowledge transfer that these professionals bring. Experienced consultants are eager to deliver high-quality solutions and often introduce new skills and ways of working to their onshore colleagues. This creates new dynamics, fosters learning, and boosts team morale across borders.

As projects become more complex and iterative, especially those involving AI, automation, and advanced analytics, companies are placing greater value on proximity, cultural fit, and tighter collaboration between local and nearshore teams.

Successful nearshoring requires more than access to talent. It also depends on having the right partner to support sourcing, onboarding, delivery coordination, and long-term team integration. Combined with Nordic values such as transparency, trust, and accountability, experienced consultants and proven delivery frameworks can help organizations build stable, high-performing teams over time.

To realize these benefits, companies must take a thoughtful approach:

• Leverage partners with strong market knowledge, talent networks, and proven processes
• Align nearshoring with business goals and stakeholders from the start
• Ensure cultural compatibility and clear onboarding processes

Flexible delivery models, deep regional market knowledge, and shared time zones make it easier to integrate nearshore consultants within existing workflows and accelerate outcomes. Collaborating with nearshore partners in EU countries also ensures alignment with GDPR and evolving EU tech regulations, making it a secure and sustainable solution.

Most importantly, success with nearshoring hinges on active engagement from the organization. The most effective partnerships occur when businesses invest in defining expectations, supporting onboarding, and continuously aligning the collaboration with their internal priorities.