{"id":1247,"date":"2017-11-07T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-07T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/?p=1247"},"modified":"2025-06-10T16:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T08:52:27","slug":"us-vs-international-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/us-vs-international-developers\/","title":{"rendered":"US vs International Developers: Do Overseas Developers Get a Bad Rap?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

According to an interactive data map by The App Association<\/a>, there are 233,054 vacant sofware development jobs throughout the United States. Collectively, this amounts to over 20.3 billion dollars of unfilled technology jobs. With new restrictions on the H-1B visa, some tech companies in the US will be even more hard-pressed to find talent matches in the coming years. With the average software engineer annual salary already topping $100,000 the laws of supply and demand suggest that the cost of hiring US-based tech talent will only continue to rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some in the US tech industry, the terms \u201coffshore software developers\u201d or “outsourced software production” might be met with disdain, rolling eyes, or horror stories of a software development engagement gone wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But are overseas developers really that<\/em> bad? Is this negative association well earned or blown out of proportion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking the perspective of US-based companies in this post we will explore the different aspects to consider when deciding between hiring a US-based freelance developer versus an overseas developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cost<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are considering seeking (or saving) your fortune overseas, cost is probably the first thing that comes to mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s cut right to the chase \u2014 US-based developers are expensive. Ranging from $50\/hr to $250\/hr, and averaging out at $70\/hr, US-based freelance developers are far more costly than some of their counterparts in overseas markets. Assuming a 40 hour work week, the average monthly compensation is $11,200 for a freelance developer. For developers working out of tech hubs and metropolitan centers, monthly salary can be even higher. A freelance developer working out of Palo Alto, for example, can earn an average of $13,920 per month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High costs of living, higher wages, and the laws of supply and demand are the driving forces behind higher compensation rates in the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While developers in places like Australia, New Zealand, and Switzerland earn a rate on par with those in the US, the least expensive regions see rates drop by 30 to 40 percent. If you are looking for big savings, your best bet would be India, Ukraine, and Pakistan, which according to Arc’s proprietary data have the lowest rates, all averaging below $50\/hr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a graph of the varying monthly compensation rates for different regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keep in mind that the numbers presented above are averages only. There are many talented developers abroad that have experience on par with or superior to US-based developers, and they should be compensated accordingly. For the most skilled developers, clients will be competing against one another to secure their talent. Those developers will be selecting their clients and setting their own rates, regardless of where they happen to be located.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that your mind is saturated with savings, a note of caution: it would be a mistake to measure value, monetary or intangible, only in terms of developer compensation. Even if you secure a developer with the desired skills and an agreeable rate of pay \u2014 communication, culture, trust, workflows, and collaboration will be even more important in ensuring working software is delivered on time and on budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communication<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake about it, clarity and ease of communication will be imperative to the success of your software development engagement. No one can deny that working with a developer in your home country, who speaks your mother tongue, in a nearby time zone, will make this easiest. But the challenges of working with a foreign developer are far from insurmountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Language<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The barriers of distance have been bridged by technology. However, language can still pose difficulties to communication. If you cannot clearly communicate software requirements, code expectations, give and receive feedback, or ask and answer questions in a common language, you have not yet found the right freelancer to work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English is still the international language of business and technology, and just like foreign professionals of all trades, many internationally-based developers have high levels of English proficiency. Here are how some non-native English speaking countries rank on the English Proficiency Index:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better gauge the language ability of prospective overseas developers, use the interview process to evaluate the ease with which they speak, write, ask questions, and provide answers. The best times to do this are during behavioral interviews, email exchanges, review of past work, and a trial period. As with all asynchronous collaboration, written communication will be especially important. If written emails and instructions are met with confusion, do not expect spoken communication to be the answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with the compensation rates in the previous section, these rankings are compiled by taking the average of a dataset. It goes without saying that developers from the US and other native English speaking countries have the edge in this regard, but there are still skilled developers in Pakistan and Thailand that can communicate in English perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Culture goes side-by-side with language. Sharing cultural fabric can go a long way in smoothing communication and ensuring that everyone is on the same page regarding: timelines, expectations, workflows, collaboration structures, and even important subtleties of the software, such as aesthetics and user flows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are coming from different cultural contexts, regimented communication structures, detailed software requirements, and clear terms of service will be all the more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If looking to source talent from non-native English speaking countries, US-based companies will likely have less of a cultural gap with developers in Eastern and Central Europe. Thanks to strong educational standards, robust technology traditions, rising English levels, and favorable price to quality ratio, coupled with rising prices in Asia, places like Poland and Serbia are becoming popular outsourcing destinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, the United States is a diverse nation and there is no such thing as a one-size fits all cultural fit. The perfect combination of cost, communication, and culture fit for your software engagement may be found in Asia, Latin or South America, North Africa, or of course, right here at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time Difference and Collaboration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to working with internationally based developers, you may (or may not) be operating in different time zones. US-based managers may bemoan the need to keep periphery hours, longer response times, asynchronous sync-ups, or have difficulty monitoring team progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different time zones do require a little more flexibility from both sides, but it isn\u2019t all bad news. Here are some ways being located in different time zones can work to your advantage:<\/p>\n\n\n\n