Hiring top tech talent in North America or Western Europe sometimes can be extremely difficult due to high salaries and a limited number of experienced professionals in some fields. Naturally, more and more businesses choose to outsource their app development overseas. Latin America currently is the third most popular destination for IT outsourcing, steadily moving higher and higher in this rating. This became possible due to a number of factors and in this post, we will talk about the main advantages of working with LATAM software developers.
Budget-friendly
Of course, the main reason for every business owner to consider outsourcing is a lower salary budget. Due to lower costs of living and differences in the currency exchange rate, developers from Latin America will cost you about 50 percent less than their US counterparts with some level of experience. Of course, the exact number will depend on your country of choice, cooperation model, and other factors, but still, IT LATAM outsourcing has proven to be an extremely budget-friendly option.
English Proficiency Level
The main concern for many product owners and team leaders when outsourcing abroad is communication. Of course, working with software developers without English knowledge is a nightmare, but with tech talent from LATAM, you are unlikely to face this problem. Governments in most of the region's countries invest a lot of money and resources in school education and in some destinations the level of English proficiency measures at 95 percent. With the majority of local IT specialists at least occasionally working with foreign employers, the level of proficiency between tech professionals is even higher. You can be sure that your potential employee will have an adequate level of English language.
Number Of Skilled IT Specialists
Most LATAM governments invest a lot of money in higher education. An impressive number of the region's universities rank among the best in the world every year and the majority of them have programs in software engineering. Only the country of Bolivia produces about 3500 graduates with IT diplomas every year. Don't forget about private courses for coders and people who teach themselves online. All of this amounts to a really diverse and skilled talent pool, so you will be able to choose a developer who will meet your requirements easily.
Geographical Proximity
If you are located in the USA or Canada, working with European or Asian remote developers can sometimes be a real headache due to different time zones. You will need to stay late to arrange a video call or wait for a response to an email for 12 hours. And if for whatever reason you need to urgently travel there to meet your employees face-to-face, the flight will take about 10 hours. With Latin American IT specialists this will not be a problem. Due to geographical proximity, your time zones won't be so different, and traveling to an outsourcing destination will only take a couple of hours.
Advanced IT Infrastructure
A lot of LATAM countries made developing IT infrastructure their prioritiy a long time ago. Because of this many companies with a worldwide reputation, like Google or Coca-Cola, open their newest offices there. Because of this, local dedicated development teams and individual software engineers are familiar with international business practices and work values. One of the main advantages of this impressive infrastructure is the great internet connection almost everywhere in the region. It is really important for successful remote cooperation. Only when a developer from the other end of the world will disappear on you for 20 hours without warning, will you understand this fully, but with LATAM professionals it is almost impossible.
Governmental Support
As we mentioned earlier, the IT industry is an absolute priority for most LATAM countries. Local governments fully support opening tech startups and encourage foreign companies to open new offices there. A lot of countries constantly try to change their laws to be more business-friendly, especially for foreigners. Of course, some tax regulations or work laws still can be pretty confusing, but this can be avoided with basic legal counsel beforehand. Overall, the situation is changing for the better and you can count on government support when doing business in Latin America.
Cultural Similarities
The inability to integrate into team culture and overall communication problems with foreign software developers is a common problem that a lot of business owners mention when talking about IT outsourcing. With specialists from Latin America, you are likely to avoid those problems because local talent shares general western values and work ethic. Of course, there are still some troubles that may come your way, but nothing that can't be avoided with a thorough interviewing process or solved with clear communication during the development process.
Growing Market
This advantage is pretty important if you are looking for building a remote development team or just long-term cooperation with a local dedicated team. According to research, a lot of popular outsourcing destinations have met their limit in terms of qualified workforce, so the number of top tech talent is unlikely to considerably grow in the next few years. But with the LATAM outsourcing market, things are different. The number of expert software engineers is steadily growing every year, and with outstanding governmental support, high-quality school and higher education, and impressive IT infrastructure, this will unlikely change anytime soon. So, you will have no shortage of senior developers and rising talent while searching for viable candidates in this region.
Final Thoughts
Latin America quickly grew to be one of the main go-to destinations for IT outsourcing for a reason. The number of advantages is really high and the downsides are really few and not so crucial. It is a great time to take a break from more conventional outsourcing destinations and dip into a new market. With the region's government's strong focus on improving IT infrastructure, investment in educational programs, and business-friendly laws, LATAM is a really exciting place to go for skilled tech talent, especially if you are located in North America.
