For many US tech recruiters, hiring a software developer can feel like a Herculean effort. Statistics have shown that in the US there are five jobs for every one software developer, making competition fierce and time-to-hire lengthy. But Colombia – home to Latin America’s fastest-growing talent market – can offer an attractive alternative to companies that want to hire top-tier developers quickly. Its bustling tech scene includes some of the world’s most promising startups like Rappi, Colombia’s first unicorn, as well as US-based tech firms such as IBM, HP, and Oracle that have set up Colombian engineering teams.
If you’re a tech company in need of software developers, hiring remotely in Colombia can help you overcome your recruiting challenges. Here are five reasons to hire a software developer in Colombia.
- Colombian tech talent is among the best in Latin America.
Colombia is home to over 65,000 software developers, two thirds of whom hold an advanced degree in computer science or a related field and many of which have prior experience working for fast-paced startups. The country boasts a talent pool four and a half times the size of the talent pool in the United States, and 150,000 new STEM professionals enter the workforce annually as graduates of one of Colombia’s prestigious tech universities and boot camps.
- Colombia has a robust tech ecosystem.
Colombia is known for being fertile ground for tech startups, and the government has dedicated significant investment towards building the science and technology sectors of the economy. The country ranks fourth highest in Latin America for internet usage, making Colombians uniquely tech-savvy. “I see early signs of momentum for Colombia being a talent magnet both regionally and globally,” serial entrepreneur Andrew Ng told TechCrunch when he announced plans to expand to Medellín.
- Colombian developers work in the same (or a similar) time zone as your American team.
Your developers might not have to be in the same room to be effective, but it helps if they’re in the same time zone. It can slow things down considerably when developers have to wait several hours – or sometimes a full workday – to get a response. Colombia has one time zone and it’s perfectly aligned with a US time zone. It just depends on the time of year as to which one: the country doesn’t observe daylight savings time, making the country aligned with Central Time when Daylight Savings Time is in effect and Eastern Time when it isn’t.
- You can hire developers faster in Colombia than in the United States.
There aren’t enough developers in the United States to fill all of the open roles. By some estimates, there are five jobs for every one software developer in the United States. The lack of readily available candidates can make hiring a prolonged and frustrating process: it takes recruiters an average of 58 days to source and sign a software developer. In Colombia, there are 87 developers per open role, giving recruiters more options for filling vacant positions.
- You can expect to pay less in salary and benefits for Colombian developers.
Cost of living in the United States drives up tech salaries nearly as much as talent scarcity. The United States currently ranks as the 14th most expensive country in the world, up from 15th last year, and the problem is particularly pronounced in the nation’s top tech hubs. San Francisco currently ranks as the most expensive city in the US, and New York, San Jose, and Seattle all make the top ten. Cost of living in Colombia is, on average, 58.7% cheaper than in the United States, and you can expect to pay less than 50% the salary of a developer in the United States.
Terminal can help you build a team of remote Colombian developers
Colombia offers the perfect market for fast-growing startups looking to hire elite software developers. But establishing a global remote team is a daunting task. Terminal hires and retains global talent and supports companies through every step of hiring. You can build a presence in Colombia with Terminal, which uses real-world tested strategies that get remote teams up and running in a fraction of the time and cost of alternatives.
“Turning to Latin America has significantly expanded the candidate pool for us. There’s so much good talent,” says Russ Russ Greenspan, CTO of PresenceLearning. PresenceLearning used Terminal to expand their team 150% in three months.
Want to learn more about hiring in Colombia? Explore Terminal today.