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California’s Silicon Valley has long been at the heart of global innovation and technological development, attracting some of the brightest talent from around the world. So, it’s little wonder that US tech workers are reputed to be among the best available.
Yet they can also be among the most expensive, with tech roles in Silicon Valley highly sought after due to their often lucrative salaries.
For that reason, many companies seek alternatives to hiring US tech workers, with emerging startup ecosystems and innovation hubs around the world providing a growing pool of skilled talent.
That trend has been notably boosted by the global pandemic, which since 2020 has seen large numbers of companies forced to radically accelerate digital transformation efforts and adopt more remote or hybrid working arrangements.
As companies have become less office-based, they have also become more able and aware of the options on offer beyond their own borders, meaning that today many that would have sought to hire US tech workers are able to look further afield in the search for top talent.
The rise in remote working and increasing use of overseas employees has also seen more companies consider outsourcing solutions as a way to hire people overseas, with international professional employer organization (PEO) services one option that many US and European companies are turning to.
SEE ALSO: The best international PEO services
International PEO involves a client company contracting oversees employees via a provider — often referred to as a PEO firm. Hiring through a PEO firm eliminates the need to establish an entity overseas and comes with the benefit of the provider guaranteeing compliance with local employment regulations, as well as offering assistance with recruitment if needed.
Below, international PEO is explained in more detail, before consideration is given to some of the markets where growing innovation economies offer significant pools of talent providing alternatives to hiring US tech workers.
If you are seeking an alternative to hiring US tech workers, be that developers, programmers, or any other type of IT professionals, Serviap Global assists with recruitment in dozens of markets across six continents and is ready to help you find and hire the people you need. Contact us today for more information.
What is international PEO?
International PEO involves a client company contracting a PEO provider – also known as an employer of record (EOR) – to hire staff on their behalf, via the provider’s local entity.
That means the PEO firm will officially be the employer of those staff, handling their onboarding, payroll, and subsequent offboarding, while those employees will report directly to the client.
Where needed, the PEO provider will also be able to access its established recruitment network to provide the employees the client is seeking.
The expert local knowledge of the PEO provider will not only help the client find ideal staff in the shortest time possible but will also mean that the client can be sure that all aspects of local employment law and other regulations are properly adhered to – eliminating risk associated with non-compliance.
That is particularly attractive to clients seeking to hire staff in a country where official processes are carried out in an unfamiliar language.
It also means that the client will not need to go through the process of setting up a local entity, meaning that market entry can be completed in just the time it takes to find and onboard the employees they need.
For companies that would previously have only hired US tech workers, that means they are now able to tap into a far broader talent pool, with many skilled tech workers offering their services at significantly more competitive rates than their United States counterparts.
Those savings will generally more than offset the costs associated with contracting staff via a PEO provider, which will typically be based on a monthly fee per-employee, as well as any additional costs associated with services such as recruitment.
Markets offering good alternatives to hiring US tech workers
While Silicon Valley remains the largest tech hub globally, innovation sectors have grown up in many countries that companies may wish to consider when seeking out talent pools that offer an alternative to hiring US tech workers.
The likes of Germany, Israel, Singapore, and the United Kingdom are well known for their highly developed tech economies.
Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich are among the German cities best known for their teach scenes, while the Israeli city of Tel Aviv has a growing reputation on the global stage. The city-state of Singapore , while London remains the epicenter of innovation in the United Kingdom.
Yet many of these cities offer wages comparable to those earned by US tech workers, meaning that investors seeking talent at more competitive rates will generally want to look to other markets.
Across Asia and Latin America tech hubs and talent pools have emerged over recent years, while several locations in Africa have shown considerable growth and increasing promise.
Below, some of markets from those regions are highlighted, which are worth taking into consideration when considering alternatives to hiring US tech workers.
Asian markets offering alternatives to hiring US tech workers
Many industry experts predict that Asia will become the undisputed leader in software development and tech innovation in the future, and many markets in the region are marching onwards in the evolution of their innovation economies.
While Japan is well established as a world-leader in tech development, the region’s developing economies are making waves on the global stage.
China
China is known for playing a key role in the global tech economy, being a source of crucial raw materials and major producer of computing goods, and it is also increasingly recognized as a source of skilled talent.
Over recent decades China has been more often seen as a manufacturing hub, but as the country has gotten richer and its middle class has grown, it has developed an increasing reputation as a source of IT workers available at significantly competitive rates compared to US tech workers.
SEE ALSO: China PEO – hire without an entity via a professional employer organization
Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are among the most important cities in China’s growing tech scene, while Guangzhou is also a growing hub. With a population of more than 1.4 billion people, the country also offers a lucrative internal market for tech products, that will only grow further in the coming decades.
India
India is another Asian economic powerhouse going through rapid development that promises to grow a great deal more in the coming years.
Like China, the country’s middle class has grown exponentially over recent years, and a growing pool of skilled workers and a population not far behind its neighbor, India is packed with IT professionals and offers an enormous internal market.
It’s increasing recognition as a source of tech talent is in part thanks to the emergence of several major innovation hubs in the country, with Bengaluru standing out on the global stage, but the likes of Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai also key players.
While these two major economies stand out, several others are emerging as sources of skilled IT workers worth considering when seeking an alternative to hiring US tech workers. Among them are Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam, while Indonesia’s status as one of the five most populated countries in the world means it has a great deal of potential.
Latin American markets offering alternatives to hiring US tech workers
Singling out individual countries in Latin America as good sources of tech talent is made more difficult by the fact that so many Latin American nations have seen exponential growth in their tech sectors in recent years.
Brazil’s sheer size means it is regularly held up as the biggest source of talent in the region, with many Brazilians also moving to the United States to become US tech workers. However, other markets are also beginning to stand out.
Colombia
Colombia has a fast-growing reputation as a source of IT talent offering an alternative to hiring US tech workers, with capital city Bogota’s status as the main hub of innovation in the country being increasingly challenged by second-largest city Medellin.
In fact, the growth in the innovation economy that Medellin has experienced sice the turn of the century has led to it being widely touted as a potential “Silicon Valley of South America.”
Other cities with fast-growing tech scenes include Barranquilla and Cali, however Bogota remains the local or regional base for many of Latin America’s largest tech companies, and is also the city where the largest numbers of IT professionals are graduating each year.
Mexico
Being so close to the United States – where many of the companies seeking overseas tech talent are based – gives Mexico an obvious advantage, in terms of its accessibility to clients who may wish to visit outsourced operations on the ground.
But it is also bolstered by the fact that its large internal market – representing the second-largest economy in the region – has given rise to an innovation economy that continues to grow rapidly.
Beyond sprawling capital Mexico City, the country also boasts Monterrey and Guadalajara as major tech hubs, with the latter often being labelled the Silicon Valley of Mexico and the three cities producing large numbers of tech graduates each year.
Beyond those two countries and Brazil, numerous other Latin American countries are home to burgeoning startup economies and are producing increasing numbers of IT graduates providing an alternative to hiring US tech workers, with Chile, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama just a few of the countries worth looking into.
African markets offering alternatives to hiring US tech workers
While Asia and Latin America are more established sources of tech talent, several countries in Africa having growing startup economies and are emerging as notable sources of skilled IT professionals, making them worth considering when seeking an alternative to hiring US tech workers.
They tend to be focused in the region’s largest and most-developed economies, which have seen tremendous growth in recent years, with many of those countries offering the advantage to US clients that many local professionals speak English as a first language.
Nigeria
The largest tech scene in Africa, based on tech hub numbers alone, is Nigeria, which is also Africa’s largest economy based on GDP.
The standout player in Nigeria’s tech scene is the county’s largest city Lagos, with much of it based around the area known as Yabacon Valley, which is home to a large number of companies with a collective value of more than $2 billion.
Elsewhere, capital Abuja and third-most populous city Ibadan are also home to growing innovation economies worth considering when scouting for IT professionals.
South Africa
The only other African country with a tech scene the comes close to the size of Nigeria’s –based on the number of tech hubs — is South Africa.
The country is home to a growing number of important players in the region’s evolving tech scene, with large amounts of capital flowing into startups in the country in recent years, while approximately 18% of the total number of software developers in Africa are located in the country.
South Africa’s largest cities of Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg are home to the largest number of startups and tech-related jobs in the country.
Another African country with a sizeable tech scene that offers an alternative source of talent to US tech workers is Egypt, while other notable scenes can be found in the likes of Kenya, Ghana, and Morocco.
Serviap Global can help find and hire tech workers
At Serviap Global, we assist companies in finding and hiring top IT professionals in dozens of countries across six continents, so if you are looking for alternatives to hiring US tech workers, we can assist you.
We have offices in key markets brimming with talent, and trusted partners in many more, so wherever you are thinking about hiring we can help you.
Whether you are looking to have them hired on your behalf or just need help with finding the right people in an unfamiliar market, we have you covered, with both international PEO / EOR services and global talent acquisition services available.
Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you almost anywhere around the world.
Or read more about us as a company, as well as about our leadership team.
