10 Reasons to Hire Portuguese Developers for IT Outsourcing
Portugal has become an important IT outsourcing and nearshore destination in Europe due to the growing tech environment, qualified talent pool, stable economy and cultural compatibility. Portuguese software developers have been recognized among the strongest IT professionals globally thanks to their solid technical expertise, very high English proficiency level and the positions held in several multinationals.
Here I will present you the 10 reasons why you should set a remote team in Portugal for your company.
#1 Top positions in the ranking of best developers in Europe and World
Portuguese IT industry has been growing significantly over the last years and decades. According to the Skill Value 2019 report based on +550 technical assessments for 46 countries tested, Portugal holds the 18th position in the “Best Developers in the World” rank and the 17th position in the “Best European Developers”.
In the world rank, the first positions are held by Slovakia, Mexico, Poland and Hungary, respectively. Portugal is in front of countries like the United Kingdom, Belgium, US, Australia, France and countries that usually are searched for outsourcing in Europe as well, such as Romania, Moldova and Belarus.
Furthermore, in the rank “Top Elite Classification by Test”, which basically ranks in the best in each country, Portugal holds the 5th position with a score index of 99,92%, in front of countries like Serbia, Czech Republic, Germany, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ukraine and Bulgaria just to name a few.
#2 Balanced tech market demographics
Unlike some other countries, the tech market demographics is very balanced in Portugal, especially in what concerns developers seniority. As you can see in the graphic below, there’s a similar distribution between seniors, juniors and intermediate developers, in contrast with some eastern european countries like Ukraine, where the majority are junior developers (about 51% have between 1 to 3 years of experience). The remaining areas (Design, Data Science, PM, etc.) are pretty much according to the reality in other countries.
#3 Multinationals Headquarters and R&D Centers
Given the fact that Portugal holds the 39th position in the Ease of Doing Business Report 2020 and the 34th place in the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, ahead of countries usually searched for outsourcing like Ukraine, Romania, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Belarus or Bulgaria, it is no surprise that our country is some for hundreds of R&D centers for global tech giants.
Some of the R&D Centers located in Portugal include companies like Mercedes-Benz.io, Volkswagen Digital Solutions, Google, Sky Technology Center, Cloudflare, BNP Paribas, Outsystems, Vortal, Ubiwhere and many others. Portugal also counts with giant tech companies and some unicorns, like Farfetch, Uniplaces, Unbabel or Talkdesk. Some of these companies have entered the Portuguese market through agreements like Outstaffing and Outsourcing or R&D joint ventures with companies like Ubiwhere.
#4 Vibrant tech community
Portugal has become a main tech hub in Europe with cities like Lisbon, Porto, Aveiro and Braga performing an essential role with their Universities and all the startup environment, together with Government support (as well as from Europe) to entrepreneurship and R&D. The incentives to entrepreneurship, R&D and foreign investment are many and various, including H2020 European Funding programs, Start-Up Vouchers, a network of Angel Investors, Business Incubators and coworking spaces as well as the organization of international events such as Web Summit, Lisbon Investment Summit and Landing Festival.
Web Summit — Since 2016, the annual conference technology is hosted in Lisbon, having moved from Dublin and being considered the most important tech event in the world. Each year, this event is responsible for bringing about 70,000 people, counting with 1,200 speakers and about 900 startups. Web Summit has counted with the notable conferences from speakers such as Stephen Hawking, Al Gore, Garry Kasparov, Elon Musk, Tony Blair and C-level executives from various important companies.
Lisbon Investment Summit — This startup conference joins investors, entrepreneurs and executives for conferences, talks and pitch competitions. Last year, it joined more than 200 investors, 750 startups and 100 speakers.
Landing Festival — “Landing Festival is a 2-day knowledge-driven conference that connects tech professionals, experts, and companies. Through curated talks, tracks, and workshops on the latest trends, topics, and networking opportunities within the tech community, it is a place to learn, share knowledge, network — and maybe find a job/talent of one’s tech dreams.”.
#5 Very High English Proficiency
According to the Education First English Proficiency Index 2019, a global ranking, Portugal holds the 12th position, being considered as having a “Very High Proficiency”.
#6 Cultural Compatibility
The Portuguese culture is similar to the rest of Europe and the West, especially in what concerns work and work ethic in different industries. Portuguese developers are used to working and doing more than what is simply asked, they want to go further, seek the best solutions and get personally involved in the projects they are working on.
The most common working hours are from 9 AM to 6 PM, but over the last decade, especially in IT companies, flexibility has become a reality together with more remote work.
Portuguese IT professionals are less likely to change projects just for money, they do care about the projects itself, the scope, the technologies used and the possibility to grow and gain responsibilities inside the team.
#7 Best price/ quality ratio
Compared to Poland, Belarus, Czech Republic and Bulgaria, Portugal offers more competitive outsourcing rates paired with the same or higher tech talent pools, but slightly higher than Ukraine, Romania and Croatia.
The prices are obviously higher than in Asia or Africa, but the cultural proximity, work ethic, conditions, quality and responsibility have absolutely no comparison possible.
#8 Favorable Business Climate
Over the last decades, and after the debt crisis that affected Europe, Portuguese economy has been growing steadily and moving towards a thriving business environment. Last year, the GDP growth was 2,2%, the unemployment rate was 6,5%, 0,3% inflation rate and the Exports/ GDP reached 44%.
All of this contributed to the growth and development of the local IT community and stimulated numerous business owners to choose Portugal for IT outsourcing/ nearshore.
#9 1 Hour Behind Most European Countries and 5 Hours Ahead of New York City
Being only 1 hour behind most European countries and capitals allows Portugal to be an incredibly convenient location for nearshoring and outsourcing, smoothing communication and the workflow between teams dispersed in different geographical areas.
Furthermore, Portugal is only 5 hours ahead of New York city and most cities in the US East Coast, which still allows daily communication between teams.
Portugal also counts with 3 airports, Oporto, Lisbon and Faro. From Oporto you have direct flights to almost every european capital and some direct flights to the US. From Lisbon you have direct flights to the main european cities and capitals and international flights for North America, Africa, South America and Asia.
#10 Political Stability and Safety
Since the 1974 Revolution and the following years, Portugal has enjoyed a stable period of parliamentary democracy with only two parties alternating in a government. Unlike countries in Eastern Europe like Hungary, Poland and Ukraine, the Portuguese democracy is stable and with a social democratic approach and parties from extreme left or right have no power or important activity.
Portugal holds the 3rd place in the 2020 Global Peace Index, only beaten by Iceland and New Zealand. Episodes of violence, xenophobia, racism are very rare and there does not exist any internal or external conflicts or acts of terrorism.
