The best locations for tech talent in LATAM

In recent years, outsourcing has become an increasingly common practice for a lot of companies. By doing it right, outsourcing developers can be a fantastic way for businesses to improve efficiencies and increase their company’s bottom line, and this applies to services such as web development. Why? 

First of all, nearshore software, it’s cost-effective. Hiring freelance web developers will definitely be cheaper than hiring your own development team. Depending on where you are based, this could mean saving anywhere from 20% to 70% of your budget.

Secondly, nearshore gives you the advantage of expanding your reach to find top talent. Some web development projects require strong technical expertise and there’s no reason to limit yourself to your local area. Nearshore allows you access to a pool of tech talents around the world, so you can select the best tech talent for your project.

Lastly, outsourcing with a reliable team will give you peace of mind as your tasks will be handled expertly without you having to worry about the management of the project. This will allow you to spend your time and resources on other key important tasks for your area.

Now, the golden ticket question: Where to find the best nearshore developers? Well, believe it or not, the answer to your prayers is just around the corner: Latin America.

Where to find the best nearshore software developers in LATAM

When it comes to outsourcing, companies may choose to do it onshore (within their own country), nearshore (to a neighboring country or one in the same time zone), or offshore (to a more distant country). While onshore is always a good option, the best way to outsource web development is nearshore and offshore. 

Advantages of nearshore talent in LATAM 

Due to its proximity to the US and Canada and its accessible prices, Latin America has become one of the hottest outsourcing destinations for Northamerican companies. The LATAM region has been changing the perception that outsourcing is risky and is becoming a primal tech provider worldwide, with thriving economies and big pools of competent talents.

Latinamerican nearshore developers are winning the hearts of American companies and here are a few reasons why:

Language: As crucial as the English language is for American companies, finding foreign partners that are fluent in it might be challenging. However, when it comes to the LatAm region, the numbers might play in your favor. The U.S. is home to more than 41 million native Spanish speakers, plus over 12 million bilingual Spanish speakers, while English is the third most spoken immigrant language in South America, with about 5.4 million speakers, compared to the English literacy rate in China that hovers around 1%.

Location: A good location is everything, and being in a timezone that works for the hiring company and enabling real-time collaboration might be the key. But it’s more than geography, Latin America’s stable social environment and its prospects of economic and political development are also decisive factors to become an outsourcing leader.

Working culture: Besides its language and location, the work culture of a country is a crucial factor to become an outsourcing destination. Latin America is full of dedicated and hard-working people ready to meet any company’s expectations.

Young Workforce: A country with a young population ready to pursue a career in tech is as valuable as a gold mine. Latin America is producing big amounts of young engineering talent day by day, making it full of attractive candidates to choose from when companies are looking to set up world-class development tech talent networks or to hire individual remote engineering talent. 

Your best allies

Talent from countries in South America is experiencing increased interest from companies all over the world. But, which are the best countries to outsource IT within the region?  

Argentina

Argentina is one of the best options to outsource IT talent, as it offers cost-effective software solutions with a large pool of industry experts within a pretty convenient time zone and almost cero cultural barriers.

Argentina has the highest level of English in the region, so it’s easy to find software development talent proficient in English. 

Another plus comes from the country’s economic development and its cost-effective prices. 

The International Monetary Fund predicted that Argentina’s gross domestic product would grow by 7.5 percent in 2021 and by 2.5 percent in 2022, which shows the stable growth and optimistic economic climate of the country. Plus, ever since the devaluation of their currency in 2002, the Argentinean software development market became very cost-competitive.

Lastly, the government understands the importance of IT outsourcing and recently has launched several initiatives to support the industry’s growth and attract more international companies. 

Chile

Chile has one of the most business-friendly environments and advanced infrastructure facilities in the Latinamerican region, so.it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the country aims to be a key supplier of IT and software development services to the western market.

Although it still needs a small push to broader its availability of highly-skilled professionals to compete with markets like China and India, the country's BPO and IT industry is thriving and provides high-quality services to local and global clients.

One of the greatest advantages of Chile is its high-quality workforce. As of 2021, the literacy rate in Chile is 96.4% — higher than the Latin American average of 93.9%. The country also has a thoroughly developed telecom infrastructure, counting the highest broadband and mobile telephony penetration rates in the south American region. 

Finally, by staying on top of digital innovations, the Chilean outsourcing companies are well-equipped to handle projects of any scale and size, on top of their affordable prices. Chilean software developers are known for their solid programming skills and consistently rank in various coding competitions, making software development one of the most outsourced services to Chile. 

Colombia

Thanks to all the hiring and investment benefit from the government to attract foreign IT leading companies worldwide, Colombia has earned the status of the software development outsourcing hotspot in South America.

Plus, with one of the oldest democracies in Latin America, Colombia’s economy is among the strongest in Latin America, ranking as the fourth largest and making it a stable and reliable region for companies looking to outsource IT services. 

Lastly,  its world-class infrastructure makes Colombia a solid option when it comes to outsourcing IT engineering talent. 

Mexico

The Aztec country has slowly risen as an outsourcing destination when it comes to Information Technology (IT) and Human Resources (HR) and similar to Canada, its strong IT education has become one of the best assets the country has when it comes to outsourcing web developers. Mexican universities are nearly producing as many computer sciences graduates as American ones, making Mexico a good pool of highly qualified and very experienced web app developers at the reach of companies’ hands.

Plus, language and cultural proximity with the U.S. makes it a great choice for American companies looking to hire nearshore freelancers. The number of consumer and cultural exports from countries like Mexico to the U.S. helps to build familiarity and solidarity between the two countries, which can only help advance to a healthy relationship within the company.

Looking towards South America is a great choice for American companies looking for affordable and highly-skilled software developers within the same time zone. Save money without sacrificing on quality, and set yourself up for rapid international expansion without most of the typical struggles associated with it.