Outsourcing Software Development to Ecuador: country overview, salary, hiring models

Over the last years, Ecuador has increased its value in the tech industry with the help of many skilled engineers and development agencies ready to provide their services. It encouraged many foreign tech companies to hire developers from this country. Here we will discuss how attractive Ecuador as an outsourcing destination is and what hiring options it provides.

A general overview of Ecuador as an outsourcing destination

Ecuador, as an outsourcing destination, is widespread and convenient for foreign companies for many reasons. Here are some of them.

Convenient Time Zone

For the US companies, it is one of the best advantages as they don’t have to make a unique schedule for offshore engineers as they will mostly have several hours difference. Offline meetings also won’t be a big deal as your development team is one not that far flight away from you.

Software Engineer Salaries in Ecuador

The average salary of Ecuador engineers is $60,960, making this destination very attractive due to its cost-effective services. Moreover, these developers are as skilled as American ones, which can help cover the demand for software developers in the US.

English Proficiency in Ecuador

The average knowledge of English in Ecuador is not that high, although, if talking about software developers who aim to work for foreign companies, their proficiency level may be sufficient. Thus, if employers want to check candidates’ English proficiency, they can refer to whether the engineer has a TOELF certificate or check their level during the interview.

Technology Development in Ecuador

Technological progress has significantly grown due to the government’s “Ecuador Open for Business” strategy. It helps to develop the agrifood-tech sector, which means those with projects in this field can access Ecuadorian developers with industry expertise.

Hiring Remote Developers from Ecuador

There are four options by which you can hire software developers: in-house, outsource, contract, and freelance.

In-house Developers

Employers can use in-house hiring when they are at the core development stage or need a regular development team in their company. In-house engineers are more motivated, which means they focus on product details as they are dedicated to developing the product and growing the company.

Employers can find these engineers on platforms like Glassdoor and Indeed or use local hiring websites by posting job offers.

Outsourced Development Team

When businesses choose an outsourcing hiring model, they use a third party to develop a product. Outsourced engineers are skilled enough to provide high-quality projects. This option is also quite cost-effective as they live in countries with lower living costs. These development teams are managed by CTOs or PMs of the company’s in-house teams.

Employers can find outsourcing engineers in Ecuador on Clutch or GoodFirms.

Remote Contractors

Development agencies that provide remote contractors use a staff augmentation model. It allows companies to expand their in-house development teams with engineers of the same expertise level. With this hiring model, remote contractors are managed by the PM of your company, the same as each in-house team.

YouTeam also uses this hiring model and can provide candidates from Ecuador with the required skills by selecting from the existing talent pool. This process can last up to 48 hours. With YouTeam, you have automated contract signing between customers and software development vendors.

Freelancers

You can hire freelance engineers if you have a short-term project or a task that is not very complicated. Freelancers often have more than one project, which can influence the quality of the project or may not be what the client has expected. In addition, the employer doesn’t have enough control over the freelancer, which in some cases may not be that well.

Employers can find freelance software engineers on such a popular freelance platform in Ecuador as Upwork.

Conclusions

Ecuador has become a popular outsourcing destination in Latin America in recent years. Many foreign companies want to hire software engineers from this country for many reasons, such as suitable time zone, cost-effective region, and sound technology development sectors. Several hiring options allow employers to find the most convenient way to work with Ecuadorian developers. If you are interested in reading about software engineers’ salary rates or other interesting information about software development in Ecuador, visit our blog.