There is an unprecedentedly high demand for talented software developers in the United States. According to Statista, the general shortage of tech talent worldwide could amount to 85 million professionals in 2030. In a world of high competition between businesses, it has become vital for them to hire high-quality talent to remain competitive.
One of the most effective ways to meet this demand is to look outside the U.S. to countries with emerging tech ecosystems. Colombia has become a top nearshoring destination for talented developers. The country has a booming developer population and comes with many advantages due to its geographic location.
The best part is accessing this thriving tech hub and seamlessly integrating Colombian developers into your team isn’t as difficult as you might think.
Let’s dive into how to hire the best developers in Colombia.
Key Takeaways
- Colombia has a high number of highly qualified developers because the country as a whole is becoming an innovative technology ecosystem.
- With nearshoring partners like Bydrec, the work concerning recruitment, compliance, and onboarding becomes easy.
- Cost efficiency allows firms to scale up operations without compromising access to quality technical talent.
- Among developing countries, Colombian developers also enjoy aligned time zones and cultural compatibility with their U.S.-based peers.
How to Hire the Best Developers in Colombia
Colombian developers can be quickly hired, particularly when one wants to fully leverage the power of trusted partners with nearshoring and talent acquisition experience. Some of the different ways one can hire top-level Colombian developers include:
Step 1: Explain Your Needs and Requirements Clearly
Proper identification of your technical and cultural needs plays a significant role in creating a perfect recruitment process. Traditional outsourcing companies barely take the necessary time for creating alignment to specific needs. The solutions can quickly become generic, with profiles or candidates that might not even carry the specific expertise required for your projects.
While Colombia is a hotbed for mobile app, web development, and AI developers, other more traditional outsourcing firms may not stress finding specialists matching your niche. Misalignment leads to missed deadlines, a mismatch of skill sets, and frustrating rework.
Bydrec solves this problem by paying great attention to understanding what you need. We carefully assess your needs regarding required technical skills, language fluency, and time zone requirements and ensure you are matched with developers who will easily fit your team.
Step 2: Consider Legal and Administrative Aspects
Outsourcing has many pressing problems, particularly with international labor laws. Most traditional outsourcing companies leave clients alone to handle these compliance issues which increases the legal and fiscal risks for the company.
At Bydrec, we handle all labor compliance and HR issues for our U.S. partner companies, acting as employer of record for the nearshoring developers based in Columbia, leaving you to concentrate on the core of your operation.
Step 3: Find the Right Nearshoring Partner
When searching for a nearshoring partner to help you tap into Colombia's tech talent pool, it’s important to look beyond just cost savings or trying to do it on your own without proper guidance.
The key lies in identifying a partner who goes the extra mile to ensure your team is equipped with developers who are technically proficient and culturally aligned with your goals. Picking the wrong partner could mean dealing with inconsistent quality or mismatched skill sets—two things that can easily derail a project.
A reliable partner should have a rigorous screening process for candidates. This means they shouldn’t just glance over resumes but instead take the time to dive into a candidate's real-world skills.
Technical evaluations, coding challenges, and behavioral interviews are all part of what separates a solid hire from a mediocre one. Many outsourcing firms tend to rush through this step, relying on surface-level qualifications.
Read our article on how to pick your best nearshoring partner.
A partner like Bydrec, however, takes this process seriously. Every candidate undergoes extensive vetting to assess not just their technical chops but also their problem-solving capabilities and communication style, ensuring they’re ready to contribute to your success right out of the gate. Learn how Bydrec uses AI to make the hiring process easier for both candidates and U.S. partner.
Integration and onboarding are other areas where you’ll want to evaluate a nearshoring solution. A great partner won’t just hand you a developer and walk away, instead act as employer of record ensures good onboarding, smooth integration, and long-term success.
Step 4: Build a Happy Work Culture
Happy workers are more productive, stay longer, and contribute more. Ensuring that your developers feel supported, valued, and respected is key to creating a thriving work culture where they deliver high performance.
When you pick a nearshoring partner like Bydrec, we take care of the nearshoring team from A to Z, providing regular feedback, performance reviews, and skill development initiatives to keep performance and engagement at a high level.
We help our clients build a workplace that allows developers to progress professionally and actively participate in the company's endeavors. This guarantees consistent and faithful results and a good team dynamic.
Reasons to Hire Developers in Colombia
Over the last few years, Colombia has become one of the most attractive destinations in the world for tech talent outsourcing.
Nearshoring to Colombia offers access to the best developer talent pool without incurring a significant cost of U.S.-based talent. Here are the main reasons why companies hire developers in Colombia:
A Growing Tech Scene
Colombia's technological industry is on a fast development track, encouraged by increased investments in education, infrastructure, and innovation. Colombia ranks 61st in the Global Innovation Index 2024, highlighting the success of government efforts and active participation of the tech community.
Colombia has a promising tech scene, with major cities on the verge of becoming global hot spots of technological development and startup culture.
The World Economic Forum says Colombia has a rapidly-growing tech market. As a matter of fact, it will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Time Zone Proximity
Agile development thrives on daily stand-ups and quick feedback. The Colombia Time Zone or COT, falls into a specific one-hour lead from the U.S. Eastern Time. Hence, there's a significant overlap of working hours between both teams. This time zone proximity helps remote teams working in Colombia collaborate with their US-based counterparts in real time.
Such interactions keep the project moving and make working hours increasingly productive.
More importantly, this means that developers in Colombia are in U.S. business hours. This enables better communication and overlap between teams.
Cultural Adaptation
Colombians are known to be hard working and great team players who can adapt to various working environments.
Colombians are often entrepreneurial and eager to work with international companies, which makes them an excellent fit for U.S.-based teams. Colombian developers have a positive attitude and excellent interpersonal skills. Additionally, they work well under pressure.
These traits help them fit into remote teams and guarantee cultural synergy. Business relations with the Colombian developers are smooth and generally ensure higher productivity and collaboration.
Salary Scale
Software developers' salaries in Colombia are generally 50-60 % cheaper compared to the U.S. market, making Colombia a very affordable option for hiring developers. For instance, in Colombia, a software developer's monthly pay is COP 3.1M - COP 7.7M/mo or $743.35 to $1,734.49 per month, depending on experience and skills. In contrast, U.S. developers cost $9,320 per month on average.
Quality of Work
Colombian developers have excellent skills and work ethics, despite the relatively low salaries. The skilled Colombian software developers excel in modern languages like Java, Python, and JavaScript. They also know frameworks like React, Node.js, and Django.
Moreover, Colombian developers have command over sophisticated technologies like machine learning, AI, and mobile application development. Their technical skills match those of any global developer. Such proficiency enables U.S. companies to build cutting-edge software at low costs.
Contrary to popular belief, quality of work doesn't suffer when hiring affordable talent from Colombia. In fact, diverse perspectives and creative solutions only add value to any tech team.
Understanding the Developer Talent Pool in Colombia
Colombia has a diverse, skilled developer talent pool. They can handle almost any front-end web development, mobile apps, AI, or cloud computing task. You will find experienced, knowledgeable people for your project in any of these areas. Here is a breakdown of everything you need to know:
Skillsets and Expertise
Colombian developers use a broad range of technical skills, which makes them suited for versatile development needs. Some of the most common development streams identified in this regard are:
- Web Development: The developers certified in front-end technologies have practical experience in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, and Node.js. They also know back-end frameworks like Django and Ruby on Rails. Colombian developers can handle various development projects - Be it building dynamic, responsive websites and complex web apps and handling security, testing, and performance optimization.
- Mobile App Development: Colombian developers are proficient in managing native development in iOS and Android. They also provide cross-platform app development with frameworks like React Native and Flutter. Colombian developers can also build applications for performance optimization that augment end-user experiences.
- AI and Machine Learning: Developers have mastered the skill of designing machine learning models and developing applications using data science with big data processing through TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Hadoop.
English Proficiency
Although Spanish is the official language in Colombia, many developers, especially those interested in technology, can speak and write excellent English. According to the EF English Proficiency Index, Colombia ranks #17 in Latin America in terms of English proficiency which helps U.S. companies interact with remote teams with minimal communication barriers.
Colombian developers have undoubtedly worked with international clients, too. This skill boosts their communication and collaboration with remote teams from the U.S. companies.
Whether it is e-mail communications, video calls, or documentation, communicating in English is common among developers in Colombia.
Academic Background
Colombia is home to some of the most prestigious universities in Latin America highly regarded for their computer science and engineering programs. Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana have warmed the hotbed for top-level developers and engineers. Coding boot camps and online certifications are set to fuel the next wave of growth. The university programs and other learning cohorts combined have shaped a diverse pool of top talent nationwide.
Developers from Colombia regularly participate in international training, hackathons, and open-source projects to stay updated on the latest technologies and their uses.
Final Words
Colombia offers many value propositions to U.S. companies, including a growing tech ecosystem, highly qualified talent, and high cultural compatibility. Colombia is simply one of the best nearshoring areas.
Partnership with a reputable firm, like Bydrec, can enable your U.S. company to access some of the best developers in Colombia. You can avoid headaches with recruitment, compliance, and payroll by partnering with us.
Want help with nearshoring a suitable developer from Colombia? Book a complimentary, zero-obligation consultation with one of our Bydrec nearshoring experts to see if we'd be a good fit to fill your IT openings: Contact us now.
