As organizations look to lower costs and explore more flexible staffing arrangements, the demand for outsourcing remote software developers is surging. And while outsourcing developers has historically been associated with faraway places such as India or the Philippines, tech talent in Latin America has recently caught the eye of many tech giants looking for better time zone overlap and closer cultural similarities.
In this blog post, we’ll help you navigate the Latin American tech industry and guide you on how to hire top-notch developers for your organization. ¡Vamos!
Benefits of hiring software developers from Latin America
With the proliferation of remote work, you have a lot of options to consider when outsourcing tech talent to different countries around the world. For US-based companies, the decision to hire LATAM developers offers some significant advantages you won’t always find elsewhere.
Consider the following benefits.
Good time zone overlap
Latin America is split across five time zones, with the entire continent of South America being at most a two-hour time difference from US Eastern and Central Time. For example, Venezuela, Bolivia, Paraguay, most of Chile, and large swaths of Brazil are all in the same time zone as New York and Toronto, although most of these countries do not observe Daylight Saving Time.
Highly skilled developers
One of the significant benefits of hiring developers from Latin America is that they are talented, highly skilled, and competent. The tech market in Latin America is booming, and developers possess unique skills that match or exceed the skills found in other regions. Many countries score very high on tech skills, according to the Coursera Global Skills Report, with developers from Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina scoring particularly high.
Lower cost of engagement
US-based organizations benefit from hiring Latin American developers as they are significantly less expensive than their US counterparts while providing the same quality of work. For example, it’s fairly common for a US-based cloud developer to charge around $100 an hour. By contrast, the average hourly rate of a LATAM developer is $53.
Good English proficiency
According to the 2022 EF English Proficiency Index from the international language training organization EF, adults in Latin America are increasingly learning English. While English proficiency varies by country, places like Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica scored moderate for proficiency, while Argentina leads the region with a very high level of English proficiency.
Different channels to engage LATAM talent
Generally speaking, there are three main channels you can use to hire LATAM developers:
- Job boards
- Freelancing platforms
- Outsourcing agencies
Each option has its pros and cons, and you might choose one over the other depending on your hiring needs. Here’s a quick rundown of each option.
Job boards
Job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed.com are usually the most time-intensive option that require the most internal resources to use. For these sites, you will likely need an internal recruiting team to write the job descriptions, manage requisitions, conduct interviews, and onboard new employees.
As such, job boards might be a good option if you want to hire full time or for long term contracts, since they also give you more direct visibility into the talent. However, job boards don’t pre-vet candidates before they apply to jobs, although LinkedIn does offer a feature for profile verification with a government issued ID.
Freelancing platforms
In recent years, freelancing platforms like Fiverr and Upwork have given organizations access to a wide variety of global talent, and Latin America is no exception. Different platforms have different pricing structures — some might charge to post openings while others might limit you to certain number of posts per month, for instance.
Talent vetting on these platforms is similar to what you’ll find with LinkedIn, meaning there isn’t typically much to go off besides customer reviews, or, in the case of LinkedIn, endorsements. These platforms are also usually better for short term engagements and one-off projects.
Outsourcing agencies
Finally, outsourcing agencies are a kind of recruitment or staffing agency that exclusively works with outsourced talent, usually specializing in one geographic area or another. At NerdRabbit, we offer nearshore outsourcing for tech talent in Argentina, while other agencies might only work with developers in Mexico or Brazil.
Outsourcing agencies are a good option whether you need help with a one-time project, ongoing support, or to fill full time positions. The two main benefits of using an agency are trust and expertise. Since these organizations work exclusively with outsourced talent, they can usually offer more competitive rates as well as quality assurance, since they pre-vet candidates.
Average cost of engagement for LATAM developers
The average hourly rate for software developers in Latin American countries ranges between $45-$65 USD. Compared to software developers in the US, Latin American developers are affordable, and organizations can scale up and down based on the company’s needs, saving on overhead costs. However, salaries differ by country, with Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico having the highest salaries.
Best tech hubs in Latin America for hiring developers
Home to approximately 660 million people, Latin America is an enormous region spanning two continents and at least 24 different countries. In such a highly diverse region with more people than the US, Mexico, and Canada combined, knowing where to start when looking for talent can be hard.
You’ll find excellent developers in every Latin American country, but Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico are the top countries for most organizations looking to hire LATAM talent.
- Argentina boasts skilled developers, the highest degree of English proficiency in Latin America, and great time zone overlap for US organizations based in the Eastern and Central Time Zones. Buenos Aires, the nation’s capital, is the hub of the tech industry in Argentina.
- Brazil has a large pool of developers and is an attractive destination for US-based organizations, as the business culture is similar to the US. Campinas is known as the “Silicon Valley of Brazil” due to the large presence of global software companies there.
- Chile is highly regarded for its affordable workforce and robust education system that continually produces top-notch software developers. Santiago, the country’s cosmopolitan capital, is one of the largest cities in the America and home to over 6 million people.
- Colombia has an excellent eco-system for software development, with more than 800 tech organizations across the country, per Crunchbase. The country is in the same time zone as the major US tech hubs of Chicago and Austin, with most of its tech workforce located in the cities of Medellín and Bogotá.
- Peru is home to a huge tech workforce, especially in the capital city of Lima. Like Colombia, the country is in the same time zone as US Central Time and has decent English proficiency.
- Last but not least, Mexico‘s proficiency in English, an excellent eco-system for software development, good time zone overlap with Midwestern and Western US cities, and a large pool of developers make it an attractive destination for US-based organizations.
Augment your team with LATAM talent
Latin America is an attractive destination for hiring software developers for many reasons, including their highly skilled developers, low overhead costs, and excellent command of the English language. As the Latin American tech industry continues to boom, organizations can benefit from leveraging LATAM talent to augment their workforce.
Same quality, lower cost
More and more organizations are outsourcing software developers closer to their home country, and it's easy to see why. Contact us about nearshore outsourcing today, and join thousands of other companies taking steps to be more flexible, productive, and cost-efficient.
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