Almost every week we are hearing of North American companies laying off Software Developers in an attempt to save on operating costs. Netflix, Coinbase, Robinhood, Snapchat and a few more have all shed a bunch of engineering jobs. If Canadian market is closer to your heart – Hootsuite, Unbounce, Thinkific and Shopify are among some of the biggest tech players making the news lately for sudden layoffs.
Given that the base salary for Software Developers in North America can range between $95,000-180,000 CAD per year, in the past couple of years hiring managers have been turning to international markets like South America to hire offshore talent at a significantly cheaper cost. Companies making this move are finding that they’re able to save between 30%- 40% on base salaries while hiring professionals that bring the same level of education and English proficiency to the table as their North American counterparts. The South American market is also of appeal given the region’s proximity to North America, similar time zones, and minimal language barriers.
A commonly overlooked solution to cutting costs even further is hiring fractional Software Engineers on short-term basis instead. This can be particularly helpful for start-ups and small companies who are struggling to find the budgets to hire experienced full-time Software Engineers despite their need for them as they strive to build and market competitive products. Embracing this opportunity allows companies to contract talent for as few as 10-20 hours per week to deliver only on the projects that are the most necessary. Rather than finding the budgets to pay Software Engineers an annual salary of $120,000-160,000 CAD/ year, they can instead be looking at hourly rates of between $60-85 CAD/ hour (depending on the complexity of the project and experience of the developer) and pay the expense only when extra help is required.
As people around the world place a higher value on work/life balance following the pandemic, part-time jobs are becoming increasingly appealing. Companies recruiting for part-time roles can expect to see a large number of applicants who are eager to work in a part-time capacity while dedicating the rest of their time to schooling, family, or different types of work.
Hiring Fractional Software Engineers is one of the engagements we can help with at DevEngine. Engaging with us on hiring fractional technical talent means that we take the hassle, headaches, and paperwork associated with hiring overseas talent off your plate to deliver the team you need while saving you a good 20-25% on recruitment costs.
Having done this for a variety of clients in HRTech, EdTech and FinTech spaces, we have strong systems in place to help you find the affordable and skilled talent you need to launch your MVP, QA test your code, and push your product to the next stage and beyond.
>> Contact us for a quick consult if hiring part-time Software Engineers is of interest to your organization.