In the previous blog article, we figured out the main benefits of hiring remote employees, including cost-effectiveness, an extended talent pool, and increased productivity. If you've decided to finally expose yourself to the global IT market, the next question to ask is where to find the best programmers. Don't worry, we've got you covered.

Among the major criteria that you should consider when choosing countries to look for talents in are tech skills and the educational level of local specialists, their average hourly rate and ability to communicate in your preferred language, as well as some cultural differences and time zone. Knowing that you might prioritize some requirements before others, we created a list of places where the most suitable candidates are likely to wait for you.

Eastern Europe

Average hourly rate of a mid-level developer — $30-$40

Programmers from this region deserve your special attention and here's why. As stated in a report by AVentures Capital, Aventis Capital, and Capital Times that was published in 2019, such countries as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and Romania entered the top 5 global software development centers with 700 000 tech specialists and a $13 billion volume of IT exports. Moreover, Eastern European developers occupy the first positions in a new global IT SkillValue's ranking based on more than 600 technical assessments.

Ukraine

Flourishing software outsourcing center and future IT leader, Ukraine, has the biggest amount of C++ engineers and Unity 3D game developers globally. Moreover, it's second in Magento, JS, and Scala and third in Python, Ruby, ASP.NET, and Node.js. It's not just the number of Ukrainian programmers that is impressive but also their level of competency — they belong to the top-5 in the world according to SkillValue.

Local IT specialists mainly work with mobile development, big data, AI, blockchain technologies, and cryptocurrency projects. Their value for money has already attracted many US companies that outsource 80% of their tech projects to Ukraine. English is not widely spoken in this country but as reported by Daxx most Ukrainian IT community members are confident in this language. As for the time zone difference, it doesn't have to be a barrier because lots of programmers here are ready to work flexible hours.

Belarus

Another promising Eastern European country that has an IT industry, predicted to grow 4-5 times faster than the global IT market. Its capital, Minsk, is home to a famous tech hub called The Belarus High Technologies Park that unites thousands of most talented IT professionals. The most common programming languages among them are Java, JavaScript, and .Net. Belarus is becoming a very popular place for software outsourcing that's why local developers are confident in English and well-experienced in working with international clients.

Russia

The second best developers in the world, according to HackerRank, who scored 99,9 out of 100 and dominate in algorithms live here. A huge base of more than 400 000 software developers with expertise in Java, C, C++, and other languages creates a wide choice of potential remote employees. Such cities as Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, and Novosibirsk comprise about 70% of the total IT market in Russia which makes them most worthy of your consideration. Just be careful with time zones if it's important for you — Russia has nine of them.

Asia

Average hourly rate of a mid-level developer — $24-$35

Asian countries have the lowest market rates and a great number of IT specialists. In comparison with other regions, Asia holds the largest number of offshore software developers. However, it might be challenging for US or Western European companies to work with programmers from this area due to a substantial time zone gap.

India

India is one of the dominant software outsourcing countries which says a lot about their IT professionals. They mainly specialize in mobile applications, AI, Blockchain, Machine Learning, Microsoft, and GIS technologies. Indian programmers outperform American ones in math and logic but they are not so good at Web development. What could be a deciding factor for you in choosing to hire Indian remote specialists is them being part of the second-largest English-speaking country in the world.

Сhina

The Chinese government stimulates the IT sector by focusing on STEM subjects in education (more than 60% of the STEM graduates in leading economies are expected to be from China and India in 2030) and creating tech parks all over the country. It might be a reason why in HackerRank's "programming Olympics" Chinese developers were scored the highest, outperforming others in math, data structure, and functional programming tasks. Key skills of local specialists here include Python, Shell, and big data but, unfortunately, good command of English is not one of them.

Latin America

Average hourly rate of a mid-level developer — $30-$47

Regardless of political and economical difficulties, the Latin American IT industry has been rising through recent years. Local companies spend more on AI, AR/VR, cloud technologies, security, and robotics. If your business is based in the US or Canada, hiring remote employees from this region might be a great choice for you because of the small timezone gaps and cultural closeness.

Brazil

Among Latin American countries Brazil has the biggest base of software engineers who are greatly experienced in providing outsourcing services in infrastructure management, ADM, and call-center tech support. According to the Tholons Services Globalization Index 2019, Brasil also can boast its second place in the ranking of the top 50 digital nations. Local developers are often multilingual and can communicate in English, Spanish, and French which is another reason to think about hiring a remote employee from here. However, it's worth mentioning that the Brazilian IT market is comparatively young so you may want to search for more advanced professionals in other countries.

Argentina

When talking about Latin America, the second choice after Brazil in terms of looking for remote developers would be Argentina. It has slightly lower indications than Brazil in programming charts but an even more English-proficient nation. The major areas of expertise among local specialists are mobile development, cloud computing, and DevOps engineering. The Argentinian authorities invest a lot into tech education, offering young talents free courses in this field, and 70% of students here work along with their studies which makes your search for prospective employees easier.

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