Companies dealing with a shortage of tech workers, amid the proliferation of remote work, have started looking offshore for software developers in places like Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe, Wired reported Aug. 12.
Tech services firm Commit estimated that outsourcing for software development would increase by 70 percent from 2022 to 2023, while technology companies like Spotify and Coinbase have already aggressively hired overseas, the magazine reported.
"We used to think of this as a cost arbitrage story. You hire in Mexico or India because it’s cheaper," Jimit Arora, a partner at research firm Everest Group, told Wired. "Now I see this as a talent arbitrage story. You go where the talent is."
Latin America has garnered particular interest from tech companies because it has time zones in common with the U.S. along with a cheap labor force, the news outlet reported. According to the story, a software engineer in Mexico makes about a fifth as much as one in San Francisco.
"Software developers are shaping up to be the first global role," Alex Bouaziz, CEO of payroll and remote hiring startup Deel, told the magazine.