Why Hire Ukrainian Software Developers for Outsourcing?
February 16, 2022
Alex Shubin | Founder & CEO at SDA
An increase in the Ukrainian tech ecosystem reaching $8.4B of industry export volume in 2025, a network of 200K IT representatives, and high-potential technical education have created conditions for the country to become one of the top European IT destinations. High-level technical professionalism, English language knowledge (70% upper-intermediate level), proficiency in developing industries (AI, Go, Big Data, etc.) have put Ukrainian developers 5th on the list of the world's top IT professionals.
Companies like Apple, Microsoft, Samsung recruit Ukrainian developers to create innovative software products.
Motivation to hire Ukrainian IT outsourcing:
- #1 outsourcing market in Eastern Europe (Outsourcing Journal);
- offshore location in 2017 (GSA); *
- #1 in Central and Eastern Europe in outsourcing scope (CEEOA);
- one of the leading offshore destinations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (top 20- Gartner);
- one of the leading countries by the performance of outsourcing activities (top 50 - A.T. Kearney);
- one of the leading IT services exporters (top 25 - PwC).
Skype, IBM, Boeing, Ericsson, Siemens, and other tech global companies hire software developers in Ukraine because of:
- 200,000+ IT industry representatives;
- 36,000+ graduate from technical higher educational institutions each year;
- 1500+ businesses in software development;
- 2,000+ startups with high potential;
- 110+ international Research & Development centers;
- boisterous tech community;
- 80% of Ukrainian software developers know the English language;
- cultural adaptability and intractability;
- value for money factor;
- favorable business climate;
- convenient time-zone for cooperation;
- 11 official holidays with paid time off.
200,000+ IT industry representatives
Recently Ukrainian software development industry has been boosted by 2.5 times. The country's IT industry is estimated to rise to $10 billion in value by the end of 2020. In PWC prognosis Ukraine is the 5th in the Top 25 IT services exporters list. Ukrainian software development network has increased by 27% in 2017 and at the present moment provides employment to more than 200,000 IT professionals.
Local developers are rated 5th among the top software developers globally with a score index of 93,17%. In comparison to European countries, Ukrainian software developers occupy 4th place. (Skillvalue 2019 Report).
Ukrainian software developers are qualified in various technologies, with JavaScript (18,4%), Java (15,4%), C# (13,7%), Python (13,2%), and PHP (10,8%) as the most common programming languages in 2020 (2). Linkedin Research reported Ukraine to have 9K PHP Developers, 8K Java, and 8K JavaScript Developers, 3K Python Developers, 1K Ruby on Rails Software Developers.
Ukraine is positioned 1st in the world by the quantity of Unity3D game developers and C++ engineers, and 2nd among JavaScript, Scala, and Magento developers.
Ukraine ranks 3rd among Node.js, Python, ASP.NET, Ruby, Symfony, and PHP developers. As for front-end web developers, Ukraine takes the 5th rank, and no deficiency of Android app developers and iOS developers is observed either (3).
Ukraine is considered to be one of the 50 most innovative global economies (5) and is the motherland to over 110 R&D centers for the world's biggest tech companies including Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Apple, Skype, IBM, Boeing, Ericsson, Siemens, Oracle, Magento, and Wargaming, and those are only a part of the list.
36,000+ graduate from technical higher educational institutions each year
There are 402 universities and colleges in Ukraine (4). In these higher educational institutions, more students graduate with science specialization annually than in some of the countries known for innovation development, like Japan, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, and the Netherlands (5).
Annually, there are over 36,000 graduates from local universities with degrees in fields aligned with IT. On top of that, the World Economic Forum recognized Ukraine among the leading 10 countries in the world by the quantity of engineering, manufacturing, and construction graduates, which amounts annually to 130,000 graduates.
In Ukraine, educational possibilities are provided to students, who are inclined to develop in hi-tech industries. Ukrainian software development companies and IT clusters offer educational programs at universities and organize innovation labs at higher educational institutions.
As one of the examples, the Lviv IT Cluster has started educational programs in innovative subjects such as AI, Data Science, IoT, and Computer Science in cooperation with leading universities in Lviv.
1500+ businesses in software development
The quantity of Ukrainian software development companies has increased from 1050 in 2011 to 1391 - 1650 software companies in 2020.
The full range of software development services is provided, among them are web and mobile development, UI/UX design, QA & testing, dedicated team building, R&D, consulting, analytics, etc.
In reality, it is not that much about the numbers. Over 100 of Fortune 500 companies use the services of Ukrainian providers. 18 Ukrainian outsourcing companies are placed in the top 100 best outsourcing companies globally.
Boisterous tech community
Agile Eastern Europe Conference, PyCon Ukraine, iForum, IT Arena, and DEV_Challenge are the greatest tech events among the variety all over the country.
On such occasions, the chances to communicate with other professionals, share expertise, and follow the experiences of the most outstanding industry leaders are provided for Ukrainian IT representatives. The study published recently on developers.org.ua has shown that 60% of Ukrainian developers attend professional IT events on a regular basis.
The 5 leading Ukrainian IT Communities are in Kyiv (25+ companies), Kharkiv (73 companies), Lviv, Dnipro (29 companies), and Odesa (18 companies).
The greatest tech events draw over 7,000 visitors and international speakers from the world's leading companies like Skype, IBM, HP, SAP, Intel, and Dell, to name a few. In the regions and on a local level less significant conferences are organized, although their value should not be underestimated as they cover highly-discussed topics like AI, big data, virtual and augmented reality, data science, etc.
80% of Ukrainian software developers know the English language
80% of Ukraine’s tech professionals speak English on an intermediate or higher level (9). The greatest part of software development and IT outsourcing companies in Ukraine provide English tutorials for the teams to raise their English proficiency.
2,000+ startups with high potential
The world’s top companies demonstrate great interest in Ukrainian startup development. Google has bought Viewdle – a face-recognition app, Snapchat has purchased Looksery – a real-time face modification tool, and Oracle owns Maxymiser – a cloud-based software for marketers.
Kyiv has become a rapidly-growing tech hub with investors than cities like Warsaw, Vienna, Oslo, and Copenhagen (7), including AVentures Capital, Chernovetsky Investment Group (CIG), Digital Future, Imperious Group, SMRK, TA Ventures, and Vostok Ventures.
Ukrainian IT professionals have developed loyal business relationships with clients from main European centers with venture capital funds like the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, etc. Consequently, venture capital investment in Ukrainian startups amounts to US$258 million in 2017 and US$336.9 million in 2018 and has been accelerating confidently.
Cultural adaptability and intractability
Western businesses' work ethics are rather identical to the ones prevailing in the Ukrainian IT outsourcing industry.
Developers in Ukraine are not merely service providers. They are willing to face challenges and unpredictable situations, take personal responsibility for their projects and take great effort to succeed at the highest level. 60% of Ukrainian developers dedicate additional time to the improvement of their skills: study educational materials, attend classes or IT conferences.
This works in particular in the circumstances of direct communication, when no third-party is involved.
Value for money factor
In comparison to Poland, Belarus, and the Czech Republic, Ukrainian IT outsourcing companies offer more interesting rates going with a much larger tech service and professionalism value.
The rate per hour for software development is approximately around $25–50, the software developer salary approximates $1,400 and $3,300 per month (taxes and social payments).
Although the rates are indeed higher than in some other known IT outsourcing countries. Still, they appear much lower than those in Western Europe and North America, where a software engineer of the same level might be worth up to $100 hourly or more.
On top of that, the reforms implemented recently in licensing have significantly improved the business climate in Ukraine.
Favorable Business Climate
Gradually, Ukraine is harmonizing its policies with the international ones and making steps towards a more positive and effective business environment. The country has achieved its GDP growth of 4,6% in the second quarter of 2019.
The Ukrainian government has already confirmed its Strategic Action Plan 2020 and canceled 450 out-of-date regulations, empowering innovative initiatives, prioritizing the intensive corporate governance of state agencies, and privatization.
Other than that, Ukraine has raised 32 positions up during the period of the last 5 years in the World Bank’s ease of Doing Business 2020 ranking by introducing several regulations. It rationalized the process of dealing with construction permits by lowering fees.
Ukraine has also simplified the tax payment system by introducing a lower flat rate of 22% for the Unified Social Contribution tax paid by employers (instead of the previous rates varying from 36,76% to 49,7%).
These factors impacted the advancement and pushed the development of the local IT community and motivated numerous creators to choose Ukraine for IT outsourcing.
Convenient time-zone for cooperation
Convenience in communication and work schedules between the teams from different countries is achieved due to Ukraine’s geographical location, as it is only one hour ahead of most countries in Europe.
It takes up to 3 hours to fly from Ukraine to most European IT cities.
UIA provides regular direct flights from Kyiv to London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and other important tech hubs in Europe. For example, Kyiv has normally 3 direct flights per day to Heathrow Airport from Ukraine International Airlines or British Airways.
To be able to save on the trip you can travel to London from major Ukrainian IT hubs like Kyiv, Kharkiv, or Lviv with Ryanair or Wizz Air UK for only €18 or €22. Direct flights are available from Kyiv to Amsterdam or Berlin by Ukraine International Airlines, KLM, or Wizz Air.
Ukraine offers an advantageous offshore option for North American companies, as the difference in 7 hours between Ukraine and the East Coast provides the opportunity for more convenient common working hours in comparison to India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and other low cost IT outsourcing countries.
UIA has direct flights to New York from Kyiv starting from €488. Ukrainian developers are easily reached by the clients and have the opportunity to organize regular on-site trips. Moreover, Ukraine simplified the traveling to the EU clients and partners by approving a visa-free regime for Ukrainians in 2017.
11 official holidays with paid time off
Only 11 official public holidays are celebrated in Ukraine. Meanwhile, in other Eastern European countries such as Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Hungary, there are at least 13 paid public holidays and in Bulgaria, their number reaches 19 days.
