Jobbatical is working to enhance international hiring processes with operations in many European communities, the Balkans and elsewhere around the world.

In the process, employees are learning a lot about the economic interplay between eurozone countries and their neighbors, and how different things are in different national communities.

Lauren Proctor is the chief marketing officer of Jobbatical and represents the company at various conferences, such as the Blockchain Expo this month in Berlin.

“It's really an exciting time,” Proctor told Balkan Business Wire.

As an example of the kinds of modernization that can help bring European nations into the 21st century, Proctor talked about current progress in Estonia, where the company is based.

Proctor said blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies are “built into the ethos of the country.”

“You can file your taxes in five minutes,” Proctor said. “You can vote electronically. … I sign documents with my mobile phone. It's all transparent.”

Proctor said these advances, which bring convenience and efficiency to residents, don't happen by accident. They take work, and these initiatives can be easier in smaller countries with more agile government.

“Estonia could have gone a different direction,” Proctor said, citing public-private partnerships that helped lead toward the country’s current high-tech and empowering society. 

Estonia, she said, started some of these programs as early as 1997, when computer users around the world were still learning to master a nascent Internet.

Proctor also confirmed what startups in Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece have told Balkan Business Wire -- vibrant tech communities and talent pools are a driving force in many of these local economies.

Proctor cited a Russian move to shut down the professional social platform LinkedIn due to particular data storage policies.

“We got record-breaking traffic,” Proctor said, noting that many developers working with Jobbatical hail from Balkan countries. 

In some cases, it's harder for professionals from places like Romania or Bulgaria outside the European Union, she said. First, there's the challenge of the international hiring process for non-EU members. Then, she said, some employers say they only want EU candidates. Jobbatical tends to advocate for inclusive hiring, showing these companies some non-EU applicants to try to get them to broaden their horizons, she said.

Professionals like Proctor are seeing the technological explosion of many parts of the European continent up close. Both in the development of services and in the private economies, technology is going to be the key to progress and growth over time.