Hiring Nearshore Developers in 2023

It is no longer necessary to restrict yourself to hiring developers only from your local talent pool in this day and age. Outsourcing software development requirements to nearshore development companies and hiring nearshore developers have become increasingly popular among tech companies in the West.

1. What is nearshore outsourcing?

Nearshore hiring refers to outsourcing some of your work to countries that are in close proximity to you. This enables your in-house teams to easily coordinate with your new hires due to time zone alignment. In the context of US companies, the best bet for hiring nearshore talent would be the LatAm regions.

Not only do countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia serve as great locations for hiring offshore tech talent, but they’re also renowned for high-quality coding and are available at affordable rates.

2. Nearshore vs offshore outsourcing

How is nearshoring different from offshore outsourcing, you may ask? While nearshore looks at the talent in close proximity to your geographical region, offshore has no geographical restraints. This enables you to hire from anywhere in the world. Although this provides a vast pool of talent to choose from, offshore hiring may not be the best solution for most. 

The main downsides to offshore hiring are the time zone differences, language barriers, and lack of cultural fit between the regions. For instance, if a US-based company were to hire offshore developers from South or East Asia, you may have up to a 12-hour time difference that can make communication and coordination between your team members extremely difficult.

3. Benefits of nearshore outsourcing

On the contrary to offshore outsourcing or hiring onsite talent, nearshore outsourcing has become the preferred option for software developers, and for a good reason. Let us have a look at the benefits of outsourcing from nearshore destinations.

3.1 Nearshore hiring helps to save time and energy

Unlike hiring in-house candidates, nearshore outsourcing enables you to get started with your project in record time. You do not have to waste time recruiting candidates and conducting onboarding/ training sessions. 

If you hire through a dedicated nearshore hiring company like CloudDevs, you’ve ensured highly vetted senior developers that are hand-picked to suit your project requirements. CloudDevs has its own pool of pre-vetted talent to pick from, which makes the hiring process fast and efficient.

3.2 Nearshore outsourcing allows you to keep costs low

Nearshoring is a much more feasible option when compared to in-house hiring. It will enable you to save on overhead expenses, training, and lavish benefits packages that you would otherwise have to provide your employees.

Recruitment costs are another significant investment due to job advertisements, recruitment agency fees, head-hunter charges, and the long hours spent on interviewing candidates, conducting test projects or trials, and sorting through resumes. 

Furthermore, hiring from Latin American regions makes it a lot more cost-effective as most countries in those regions offer lower hourly wages compared to US and Canadian agencies.

3.3 Nearshoring allows you to access a larger pool of talent

Going the nearshore outsourcing route with your hiring requirements is ideal for accessing a broader talent network. You no longer have to be forced to select from a short list of candidates that are within your local area.

Software development is one of the most remote-friendly career options in the world, and with the right talent in place equipped with the right tools, there is no longer a need to be restricted to hiring in-house talent. 

Hence, nearshore outsourcing enables you to access the best talent from a much larger geographical area without a hassle.

3.4 Nearshore hiring allows you to scale up or down on demand

Nearshoring is an excellent option for projects that require an extra set of hands for short time periods. Sometimes we encounter shortages in technical staff but do not require a long-term engagement. 

In such instances, hiring a full-time employee into your team would be in vain. Most nearshore hiring platform allows you the flexibility of scaling up or scaling down your dev team based on demand.

4. Things to consider when hiring nearshore developers

4.1 Find the right talent to suit your needs

Having someone with technical expertise within your hiring team is essential if you’re to make a nearshore dev hire independently. There are many factors at play when deciding what type of developer and experience level you should target, and it all depends on the project you have at hand.

Suppose you aren’t 100% confident in your requirements or lack the technical expertise. In that case, you should consider hiring through a reputed agency or platform that can offer you consultancy services to ensure you receive the right talent for your project.

4.2 English proficiency of talent

Communication is an essential part of outsourced working arrangements. As such, it’s a must to have talent that is proficient in their language skills. Whether you’re hiring an offshore developer or recruiting through a company specializing in nearshore developer hiring, ensure the talent is vetted for their English proficiency.

4.3 Time zone compatibility

If being able to communicate and access your offshore talent within your company’s working hours is a requirement for you, you must ensure time-zone compatibility based on your talent’s location and availability. The geographical proximity of your regions would allow you to establish a smooth workflow and conduct efficient communication.

4.4 Vetted and screened talent

When hiring your nearshore developers through a talent platform, ensure the talent is already vetted and screened. If not, you would still spend a substantial amount of time conducting the vetting yourself, which would make the hiring process more cumbersome.

4.5 Senior talent with industry experience

Another essential factor to look into when making your hires is the experience level of the talent. The more senior the talent and wider their scope of work experience, the more adaptable they are for a wide range of project requirements. You do not want to hire a junior coder with very little expertise that you would have to guide every step of the way after recruitment.