What makes Ukraine stand out – why outsource to Ukraine?

Exploring Ukraine’s business appeal and advantages for remote team augmentation

If you ever thought of testing the waters of outsourcing, you certainly came across Ukraine as the source of great talents, tech potential, and growth opportunities. But what really makes this country so special and desirable for companies on the global scale, be it IT outsourcing or any other industry? In this blog post, we’re going to cover all the advantages that more and more companies worldwide are discovering in Ukraine through remote team augmentation.

Let’s have a new look at Ukraine from a business perspective!

Global tech recognition

The United States is home to paradigm-shifting ideas and a place full of commercial spirit. However, when it comes to turning ideas into reality in the US, things are getting pretty expensive. In fact, many companies can’t afford to hire a software engineer in the local area — an average US developer makes $100.000. Or, for example, how much does it cost to hire a coder in the US? While the wages vary from state to state, the hourly rates range from $250 to $850. Basically, the same goes for customer service salaries, which are currently in-demand with SaaS companies in the USA.

Well, that’s where the magic of offshoring comes in. In search of qualified specialists and financial balance, companies opt for outsourcing to countries with lower costs of living. But since they can’t afford quality sacrifices either, they want to find a reliable and responsible partner agency to outsource their business. At this point, Ukraine throws a lifeline.

With 180,000+ tech specialists, 4000 IT companies, and $8.4B of industry export that the country is expected to reach by 2025, Ukraine has become a leading outsourcing destination for the US and Europe. According to the SkillValue report, the Ukrainian software development industry has rapidly increased 2.5 times through the past few years, reaching the 5th ranking position among the best software developers in the world with a score index of 93,17%. Although the population of Ukraine is 7 times smaller than in the US, the country offers more PHP developers, while also catching up with popular technologies in America.

Now, there are 3,000 Python developers and 9,000 software engineers in Ukraine. The correlation between the country’s population and its number of skilled specialists is what seals the deal.

The Ukrainian tech ecosystem is evolving at an impressive pace, both due to the bottomless pool of highly motivated tech-savvy talents and the contribution of IT companies.

Ukrainian tech specialists have cutting-edge skills and vast expertise in popular programming languages which, as shown in the latest report from Daxx, make it rank #3 for the number of PHP, Ruby, Python, Symphony, and Node.js engineers.That, in turn, makes the country a great catch for investors: in 2017, Ukraine-based startups attracted $290M of investments from foreign funders.

Ukraine as an international choise

As Ukraine had been revealing its amazing tech potential and establishing strong positions in software development outsourcing, it gave life to hundreds of R&D centers originated by multinational corporations. That’s one of the major reasons why outsource to Ukraine has become a priority choice among businesses exploring the advantages of outsourcing.

World-leading companies such as Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Siemens, Wargaming, and Huawei choose to hire software developers in Ukraine, setting up new offices for their remote teams and thus solving the talent shortage issues that stand in the way of small businesses and large enterprises.

Home to great startups

In the startup arena, Ukraine stands as a distinguished player, too. In the last several years, more than 2,000 up-and-coming startups have entered the business world, where one can find popular products that are already in many people’s daily use. The most successful startups born and developed in Ukraine are:

Many of the companies listed above overcame the local arena and gained recognition among global tech industry leaders. That way, Viewdle aroused interest and was purchased by Google, Looksery became a part of Snapchat, and Maxymiser was bought by Oracle.

Ukraine vs. Eastern European Countries

Now that outsourcing and outstaffing have transformed from a trend to the new normal, there are a plethora of outsourcing companies to choose from based on your business objectives and the company’s vision. Apart from Ukraine, one may come across at least three more popular outsourcing destinations — Poland, Romania, and Moldova will certainly catch your eye while exploring the options. Of course, it’s crucial to get to know the difference between leading outsourcing countries to make the right choice.

So why outsource to Ukraine when there’s such a vast choice? Let’s have a look at a brief overview of the prevalent outsourcing centers in Eastern Europe.

English level: Ukrainian and Moldovan specialists have a B1-B2 level of English, while Polish and Romanian experts have a high proficiency in the language.

Tech-savviness: According to TechRank, Ukraine ranks #11 in terms of local talents’ tech stack. As for Moldova, Poland, and Romania, the countries take #28, #3, and #20 respectively.

Industry focus: Unlike the three countries, where each one focuses on just one type of business, Ukraine is open for startups, e-commerce, and custom software development projects.

Core technologies: Ukraine leads the list of countries with the most multi-faceted tech specialists experienced in Python, Java, PHP, and .Net, while Moldova, Poland, and Romania utilize no more than 3 programming languages as the core technologies.

Hourly rates: From the overall cost perspective, Moldova offers the most affordable remote workforce ($20-25/h), Ukraine shares medium pricing positions with Romania ($25-49/h), and Poland has the highest hourly rates ($50-99/h).

Talent pool: Ukrainian talent pool consists of ~200.000+ specialists, Moldova offers the power of ~12.500 experts, Poland has ~250.000 tech talents, and Romania’s talent pool has ~110.000 workers.

The 7 reasons why companies outsource to Ukraine

For us, an outstaffing company specializing in matching US companies with the perfect Ukrainian talents, there are countless reasons to take a step toward outsourcing in Ukraine. Still, for companies who haven’t discovered the endless possibilities of growth through this country, we’ve highlighted the top 7 benefits that make Ukraine the source of businesses’ success worldwide.

01. Epicenter of talents

Being the 5th company with the world’s best developers, Ukraine is full of highly motivated certified professionals and engineers offering the ultimate tech stack compatible with various business needs. However, the country that’s known for its bottomless tech potential is not limited to the great IT expertise. Throughout our diverse experience in HR outsourcing, we’ve built cross-functional teams for companies from the logistics, engineering, and accounting industries.

02. English proficiency

The majority of Ukrainian tech workers have great language skills, which allows them to clearly communicate with their international partners and managers. On top of that, the country’s IT culture focuses on constant growth and development, so most tech companies provide paid English classes to their employees. At Zelh, we follow the same principles to ensure smooth and effective communication between our clients and talents.

03. Cultural flexibility

When it comes to cross-cultural expansion, HR managers think of ways how to find bilingual employees who will not just be able to maintain a business conversation but also be on the same page as the client’s company. The good news is, the Ukrainian tech segment has similar ethics to that of Western businesses. They focus on turning challenges into solutions, engaging in the projects they take personally, and constantly updating their skill set. As told by Daxx, 60% of Ukrainian workers invest extra time in professional development by attending industry-related events and reading educational materials.

04. Economic environment

By balancing out international policies and canceling outdated regulations, Ukraine moves toward a thriving business environment that’s open to innovations. For example, in the second quarter of 2019, Ukraine’s GDP growth reached 4,6%. Now, the recently reduced fees on construction permits and lowered flat rate for the USC tax contribute to a favorable business climate. In other words, new policies have made it easier to start and develop a business in Ukraine.

05. Fuss-free time zone & location

When companies approach outsourcing for the first time, they wonder how to manage satellite offices, especially with the fuss of different time zones. Compared to other low-cost outsourcing destinations such as the Philippines, Vietnam, and India, cooperating with Ukraine gives North American companies more convenient shared hours — Ukraine is 7 hours ahead of the US. As for European countries, the time difference is no longer than 2 hours. Moreover, Ukraine has an especially convenient geographical location with regular direct flights from Kyiv to New York. That, in turn, allows your remote team to stay within easy reach.

06. Strong tech education

According to the World Economic Forum analytics, Ukraine stands among the top 10 countries with the most engineering graduates. Annually, more than 36,000 students get IT field-related degrees in local universities with the total of 130,000 construction, engineering, and IT graduates per year.

07. Low cost, high value

Of all the popular outsourcing destinations in Eastern Europe, Ukraine offers the largest talent pool with competitive rates. What is more, cooperation with this country results in a mutually beneficial partnership, where Ukrainian specialists work with one of the best-paying countries for IT jobs, and US companies connect with low cost but highly skilled teams.

Final thoughts

Outsourcing breaks geographical barriers and gives companies the green light to global expansion by hiring skilled professionals at affordable rates. At the same time, there are many aspects to consider when choosing an employer of record and the country where you will be managing a remote team. Besides a low-cost workforce, you want your external teams to follow the same ethics as your company does, as well as make sure they provide the expertise you’re looking for. So why do companies choose to outsource work in Ukraine?

Ukraine offers a happy medium between flexibility, cost-efficiency, great expertise, and growth-driven culture. It’s the best place for US companies to thrive, and our team is here to show you the wonders it can make to your business. As remote hiring experts based in Ukraine, we’ve witnessed lots of business shift to the next level with the power of talented local engineers and tech specialists. From software customer service outsourcing to building a whole remote team for your specific objectives, we help modern companies modernize and rethink their business model to achieve results faster with fewer investments made.

Let’s explore the outsourcing opportunities of Ukraine together!