Why Outsource to Ukrainian Software Developers?

SOLVVE must be the thousandth company to pick up the topic. Still, would people be talking about it should there be no substance to the question? Thus, without further ado, here is a short-list of perks and benefits when it comes to outsourcing software development to Ukraine.

High software development expertise in Ukraine

Ukraine is home to nearly 45 million people, 70% of whom have secondary or higher education. Currently 9.8% of students in Ukraine graduate with a degree in math, science and computing delivering 130,000 engineering graduates a year as reported by Ukraine Invest. Forbes reports that Ukraine produces 25,000 – 30,000 IT specialists a year with 16,000 of them having a university degree. No wonder Ukraine has become one of the primary locations of outsourcing during recent years.

Ukraine is financially attractive

What exactly does financial attractiveness constitute?

First of all, labor costs. A quick detour: it is hard to pull reliable data about salaries in Ukraine since people rarely report to Glassdoor, Payscale, and other similar resources. Talking about salaries is not one of the cultural traits. Moreover, a lot depends on the level of experience and the skillset of each particular developer.

Thus, we rely on reports by DOU, Ukraine’s most popular and trusted resources about the software development industry in Ukraine, to asses the labor costs in Ukraine as of June 2022. The average salary for software developers in Kyiv is USD 3,600 per month, which will aggregate to USD 43,200 per year or so. The numbers for the United States instantly go to USD 74,136 on Payscale and USD 96,139 per year on Glassdoor.

Secondly, Ukraine has flat income tax rates ranging from 5% to 18% depending on the contract type, which is significantly lower than in many countries around the world, especially those that use progressive taxation scales. Moreover, Ukrainian software developers are often providing their services as private entrepreneurs, sparing their partners the trouble of tax calculations since the burden of the accounting lies with Ukrainian software developers.

Forbes reports that Ukraine’s IT exports reached $6.8 billion in 2021 and were expected to produce $8.4 billion in revenue by 2025.

What To Consider Before Selecting An IT Outsourcing Partner

Communication with Ukrainian software developers is easy

When it comes to communication, one must remember that it is not only about the language, but also cultural settings, time zones, attitudes to work, and many other aspects. However, let’s start with language skills.

According to the EF English Proficiency Index Ukraine scores is 525 points and it ranks 40th among 112 countries in Europe. What it means on practice is that an average Ukrainian software developer is able to speak without a strain and clearly write about concrete and abstract topics in one’s field of specialization. That is specifically handy when communicating with business analysts and project managers to ensure smooth cooperation and deep mutual understanding.

Culturally-wise Ukrainians are rather flexible. In the course of history, the country felt the impact of numerous other cultures making Ukrainians rather open-minded about many aspects of life and adaptable to different social and business settings. Ukrainian IT companies are particularly willing to meet their partners halfway and accommodate their requests.

The low number of public holidays and the flexible labor code ensures constant connectivity to the development team in Ukraine.
As you can see from the graph below, Ukrainians score very high on long-term orientation and uncertainty in Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Thus, if you are looking for a reliable and stable partner, Ukrainian software developers might be the right choice for you. It is also worth mentioning that Ukrainians have high work ethic standards are very result-oriented, often willing to put extra effort to deliver exceptional results and exceed expectations.

Ukraine lies in the UTC+3 time zone, having 1-to-3 hours time difference with other European countries, and lying 7 hours ahead of Washington DC. Thus, when working with partners in Europe, software developers in Ukraine can easily adjust their working hours and stay on the same page with the stakeholders. At the same time, when working with partners in the United States, Ukrainian teams are half a working day ahead of their partners and stakeholders. Thus, by the time the US team starts to work, software developers in Ukraine can already report on the work they have performed so far.

Summary

Hiring Ukrainian software developers is your first choice when it comes to outsourcing because of 3 key aspects that help them to stand out: deep expertise, clear communication skills, and cultural proximity to many European countries as well as the United States. Whether you are looking for an onsite or remote team, you might want to consider working with software developers in Ukraine.