Should You Hire Developers in Lithuania?

If you are considering outsourcing or a dedicated development model, it is always challenging to choose the right country to hire dedicated developers. Lithuania is one of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) that joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 and became a part of the Eurozone in January 2015. According to the Baltic Times, Lithuania might be the most affected country among the CEECs by Brexit because of the big number of Lithuanians actually living in the United Kingdom making 5,4% of the population there. Nevertheless, as Focus Economics states, the economy of Lithuania is quite good. It takes 16th place in the IT skills ranking among EU countries according to the Measuring Information Report.

Lithuania’s IT Industry’s Current Situation

In recent years, Lithuania has become one of the main destinations in Europe for IT development services. With an increase of 7.59% in the IT sector growth rate, it is no  wonder that many other EU countries choose to outsource their IT needs to Lithuania. Nearshoring Lithuania has also become a popular solution for businesses around the world. 

With over 48 000 IT professionals working for more than 3100 IT companies in Lithuania, it is hard not to recognize that this country will soon be one of the powers of the IT sector. Lithuania’s tech export value is around $3.11 billion per year and keeps growing, as the country becomes known for its fast internet speeds and top-quality IT professionals. The top programming languages you can expect Lithuanians to be fully  versed in are among others: PHP, Lua, ASP.NET, Node.js and Python.

Lithuania’s English Proficiency Index score of 589, indicating “High Proficiency,” reflects the nation’s impressive mastery of the English language, contributing to its robust international communication and global engagement.

What also benefits the Lithuanian IT market is that English is widely spoken and considered the most popular foreign language. As a result, the language barrier when  outsourcing to the country is typically not an issue. These advantages have even made Lithuania a popular destination for finding Java developer Vilnius by big corporations such as Microsoft and Google.

An Overview of the Employment Conditions in Lithuania

Lithuania’s employment landscape showcases a range of industries, including manufacturing, information technology and agriculture. The country has experienced  significant economic growth, creating an amazingly competitive labor market. And, this has led to an increasing demand for skilled professionals. 

Payroll cycles in Lithuania also follow a monthly payment schedule. Employers follow with specific payroll taxes, including contributions towards social security, healthcare, and other mandatory benefits. The minimum wage here has undergone quite slow increments to support the well-being of employees. As of the most recent data, the rate stands at a pretty decent $885 per month. 

Employee benefits play a big role in the employment framework in Lithuania, with many companies providing comprehensive health insurance, paid leave and retirement plans to their workforce. These benefits are aimed at enhancing employee satisfaction and promoting a healthy work environment!

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An Overview of the IT Hubs in Lithuania

Lithuania is home to several big cities and these have become the center of innovation and job opportunities for up-and-coming developers. Let’s take a more detailed look at  the metropolitan areas and how they contribute to the country’s success in the IT sector:

• Vilnius

With a ranking of fifth in mobile download speed/mbps in the CEE, according to Vilnius.lt and second on the international Cybersecurity Index, it is no wonder that this city is the local leader in the IT sector of Lithuania. Vilnius is also ranked third globally  for the availability of tech skills, and the city has been growing into one of the best IT hubs of the world. A web developer Vilnius can expect to earn around $3455.98 per month. The city is well known for game and mobile app front end developer Vilnius talent.

• Kaunas

Kaunus is a large university city in Lithuania with a focus on the development of AI technologies. The city is also fast becoming one of the most important regions for cybersecurity and plays host to the regional branch of National Cybersecurity. This is a  part of the IT sector which will continue to grow as technology develops. An Android app developer Kaunas can do well with a salary of around $2134.70 per month. 

• Klaipėda

As Lithuania’s third largest city, Klaipėda is already well established in various business sectors and contributes largely to the country’s GDP and employment opportunities. The city is thriving economically and plans to establish itself as a powerhouse in the IT sector  with it being home to many exciting startups. One example is Foodless, a company using tech to do away with food waste and helping to look after the environment. This is an exciting city for young developers to start their careers and they can expect to earn up to $4310.50 per month.

• Šiauliai

In recent years, Šiauliai has been a big industrial hub for the country and hosts many major manufacturing companies. This means the region is ripe for the taking when it comes to the IT sector and development of IT industries to help the manufacturers reach  their true potential. It is already home to a large conversation intelligence software company named Oxus.AI which helps companies to get data on how their personnel are performing. The salaries for this region vary quite significantly, but are in line with the country’s average. 

• Panevėžys

This is a city with a free economic zone that attracts investments from big industrial players. Panevėžys has shown great promise to become a hub for the IT sector with the free economic zone allowing big investors to establish their companies with plenty of tax  benefits. Informacijos Linija is one of the big IT companies in Panevėžys and specializes in trade, marketing, online portals, web design and more. A developer in this city could earn more than $1141.00  per month and make a comfortable living.

Information Technologies Development in Lithuania

When it comes down to hiring dedicated developers companies are usually presented with two opportunities – hiring locally or turning to outsourcing. Now outsourcing has plenty of undeniable advantages so it is only understandable that most business owners these days are turning to this option. Usually, recruiters who focus on IT outsourcing are trying to find options that would be both cheap and of high quality. That is when outsourcing to other countries seems like a rational choice. One of the most appealing countries for such reasons is Lithuania that offers a wide range of top-notch specialists who demand comparatively low rates.

One of the developing industries of the country is the information technologies (IT) sector. ZDnet states that the IT sphere in Lithuania is evolving and demonstrates good rates of development. Indeed, 13 of the 20 largest IT firms in the Baltic States are located in Lithuania. Many international companies like Google, Bentley Systems, Nasdaq, AIG, Intermedix opened their offices in Lithuania as well, as ZDnet writes. Considering these facts, you may assume that the idea to hire developers in Lithuania might seem a good one in comparison to hire developers in Latvia, Estonia, or other neighborhood countries.

If you are looking for Lithuania developers for hire, be aware of the most popular IT technologies among their developers. The report by Stack Overflow lists the most popular IT technologies among full stack developers in Lithuania:

• PHP
• .Net
• WordPress
• Ruby
• Node.js
• Java
• Python

Chart showing the penetration of different stacks in CEECs (Source: Stack Overflow 2019)

The report also suggests that Node.js and Node JS development teams become very popular in CEECs with Ukraine taking the 1st place.

Penetration of Node.js in CEECs according to Stack Overflow Research (2019)

Outsourcing in Lithuania and Its IT Cities

The IT outsourcing sector in Lithuania is valued at $60m. Global companies like Fujitsu, AstraZeneca, Omnitel, Swedbank, and Carlsberg group outsource to Lithuania, Clutch informs. However, Lithuania, as well as other Baltic countries, are much more expensive in terms of outsourcing their IT talents and skills in comparison to other post-Soviet countries such as Ukraine or Belarus software outsourcing

In every country with a well developed IT industry, there are the most popular IT cities with the biggest number of developers working there. In Lithuania, the majority of IT companies are located in Vilnius and Kaunas. The proportion of developers working in the capital city Vilnius makes 64% of IT experts, as StartUp Lithuania writes. So, Vilnius developer is the most popular among foreign employers who are looking for outsourcing software development in Lithuania.

What Countries Outsource Software Development to Lithuania?

According to the Statista information, more than 61.44% of the GDP is shared by the services sector, which includes the FinTech and enterprise and Android app development Lithuania. The role of FinTech and mobile application development is very high in the ICT sector.

Being the most attractive hub for financial-technical solutions, Lithuania is a very attractive destination for both developed and developing countries. China is one of the major countries that have many partner companies in Lithuania. Lithuania offers the gateway opportunity for entire Europe for FinTech businesses. A 16+1 delegation of European countries and China summit in Vilnius displays the interest of China in Lithuania.

The UK, Israel, USA, Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and other European and North American countries are a few important ones to name to outsource their software development to Lithuania. The technological companies from those countries raised the amount of over $570 million in the form of Initial Coin Offering ICO within one year with an increase of over 305% in less than 18 months period.

The Popularity of Mobile App Development in Lithuania

Mobile applications and games development is one of the cruising domains in the software development sector of Lithuania. There was a double-digit increase in Lithuania software developer salary during the past 3 years. The major driver of this huge increase was the increasing demand for skilled and experienced developers in the marketplace. To cater to this consistently growing demand for the android mobile app developer Lithuania professionals, the government has increased over 50% IT funding for education.

Many new startups have emerged in the marketplace to cater to the increased demand for mobile application and gaming application outsourcing business opportunities. The capital of Lithuania Vilnius is the largest IT hub of the country, therefore app development Vilnius becomes more and more popular. Huge demand for mobile app developer Vilnius is consistently emerging in the city.

As compared to 2018, over 37% more software development jobs were available in 2019 in Lithuania, especially in the field of mobile apps and game development. Full-stack, back-end, and JavaScript development are the top three major categories in demand in the country. App development Lithuania also occupies an important place in the domestic IT industry. App development company Vilnius can create a wide selection of mobile applications from Android to iOS. The other popular domains of software development in the city include FinTech, Cybersecurity, and BPO.

Why Do Companies Outsource Software Development to Lithuania?

Lithuania is one of the highly vibrant technology hubs in Europe. It exports high-quality software to major destinations in Europe, North America, and Australia. The major drivers for Lithuania becoming the hub of outsourcing include:

• High-quality software development
• Ranks 2nd for the highest quality to cost ratio in Europe
• A huge and talented pool of software developers and IT specialists
• The world-class ICT education system
• Western-type work culture
• High proficiency of English language
• Knowledge of multiple languages
• Expertise in multi-discipline programming
• Professional grade management teams
• Great work ethics and professional attitude
• Creative and out of the box thinking
• Robust IT infrastructure
• One of the highest rate of internet services
• Dedicated teams with the problem-solving approach

There is one more country in Eastern Europe that can offer high quality IT services at affordable costs. It is Ukraine. This country has about 200 000 IT professionals against 40 000  in Lithuania. The cost of living in Ukraine is low – less than $1000. Therefore expenses on software development don’t take a lot in this country.

The Average Salaries for Software Engineers in Lithuania

As with all industries, the compensation of a software developer Lithuania will depend on how experienced they are. Let’s delve into how much the three tiers of experience will  count when determining the monthly salary of a Python developer Vilnius or other parts in Lithuania:

What You Should Know Before You Decide to Hire a Lithuania Dedicated Team

If you are hesitating about the idea to hire developers in Vilnius, the cost of their services will help you to consider this idea and decide whether it is a good decision. There are 27,000 software developers in Lithuania. However, as Ru.Delfi writes the Lithuanian IT sector faces a problem concerning the developers’ pool because IT experts prefer to be employed abroad and are leaving the country. So while you are trying to figure out how to start a remote Vilnius dedicated team, there are a few things you need to learn about first. While looking for a team of dedicated developers, especially a remote one, you need to do a little research on the country’s economics, the one, that you are planning to outsource your team from. The thing is that most Eastern European countries are offering excellent specialists for affordable prices and a lot of entrepreneurs seem to feel strange about it, believing that lower prices mean lower service quality. Luckily, it is not the case when it comes down to hiring developers in Eastern Europe.

For example, Ukraine has the lowest cost of living in Europe – less than $1,000. Therefore the salaries of software developers are not too high and you can save if you choose the Ukrainian dedicated development team.

But of course, the salary level also depends on the skillset of developers and the city of work. Usually, the salaries in the capital and other big cities can be significantly higher than on average in the country. So, we compared the next 3 popular technologies: PHP, .Net, and JavaScript in the 2 capitals – Vilnius, Lithuania, and Kyiv, Ukraine. In Vilnius, a middle developer with PHP skills can make $3,500 per month. A middle .Net developer – $2,500. A JavaScript developer in Vilnius can earn up to $2,500/month as well. How the salaries in Kyiv differ? A programmer who knows PHP on the middle level makes on average $2,500 here. A software developer with .Net skills has from $2,000/month in Kyiv. And JavaScript developer – from $2,000 as well. As we can see, Ukrainian developers can offer software development services for a good price, and you can be sure the quality will be at the same level.

You can read more on the salaries of Ukraine developer in our research.

* Ukrainian salaries are provided based on Mobilunity’s Recruitment Team research on the local job markets. All salaries are net and do not include the service fee (in case of hiring on a dedicated team model). The salaries are provided for comparison purposes and could be not entirely accurate. Contact us to know the exact cost of hiring a developer corresponding to the required parameters.

The Benefits of Outsourcing The Hiring Process to Professionals

Let’s look at some of the main benefits of outsourcing your .net developer Vilnius requirements to a professional web development company Lithuania: 

• Cost Savings: Outsourcing taps into a global talent pool accessible through the internet, offering lower costs compared to local hiring.
• Time Efficiency: Specialists dedicated to your project deliver faster and more  detailed results, as they focus solely on your development needs. In-house teams often divide their attention between daily business activities and new projects.
• Scalability: Outsourcing eliminates the time and cost associated with recruiting and training new staff members. It allows easy scaling down or cancellation of projects, providing flexibility during challenging times.
• Quality: Outsourced specialists possess expertise and experience in specific areas  that may surpass what your internal team can offer. Researching and selecting an agency specializing in your desired field ensures faster and superior results.
• Enhanced Focus: Outsourcing frees up your attention to concentrate on core business functions, while subcontractors handle the development side of projects. This enables effective leadership and efficient business management.

Mobilunity’s Expertise in Hiring and Providing Developers in Lithuania

When it comes to outsourcing Android developer Vilnius or other talent in Lithuania, Mobilunity is a leader in the field. With over ten years of experience and our commitment to providing clients with the finest and most cost-effective talent has earned us a reputation for excellence. We understand the significance of delivering a service that not  only meets but exceeds expectations.

At Mobilunity, we offer a range of options to suit your needs, whether it’s a dedicated team or part-time resources. Our rigorous recruitment process ensures that we handpick the best talent Lithuania has to offer, guaranteeing exceptional expertise. When you partner with us, you can be confident that you will have access to a pool of highly skilled  RPA developer Vilnius or other professionals who will contribute significantly to your projects.

In addition to our focus on front end developer Kaunas and other talent acquisition, we take pride in streamlining the administrative aspects of hiring. Our dedicated team  manages all the administrative issues, allowing you to allocate your valuable time and energy to what truly matters – your business. If you want to hire net programmer or other talented web developers for hire, check out Mobilunity.

Mobilunity’s Main Service Models

At Mobilunity, we’ve been providing tailored solutions to our clients for over a decade, catering to their specific needs across various industries. Our diverse service models are  designed to offer flexibility and expertise, ensuring the successful completion of projects. Let’s take a closer look at each of our main service models when looking for a Kaunas web developer or other talent:

• Dedicated Development Teams

Our flagship service model revolves around providing dedicated development teams to our clients. With this model, you will have a full-time team entirely focused on your  project, working closely with you to deliver results within agreed timelines. We handle all aspects of HR, accounting and helpdesk support, allowing you to concentrate solely on the outcomes. 

• Consultancy Services

Our consultancy service model entails providing part-time resources to meet your specific requirements. You will have access to a specialist or a team who will work with you for an agreed number of hours per day. While you manage the resource directly, we  take care of the HR, administrative and support aspects.

• Recruiting Services

Our recruiting-as-a-service offering aims to assist you in finding the most suitable candidates for your business. We offer two options for recruitment: hiring locally in Lithuania or sourcing candidates from Eastern Europe. Simply provide us with your requirements, and our expert recruiters will embark on a search for the best talent available. Throughout the process, we keep you involved, allowing you to provide  feedback and ensure that we identify the perfect fit for your organization. Our successful track record includes partnering with clients across the globe. For example, you can read about our case study on how we helped a client in Japan fulfill their hiring needs.

FAQs

• How does Lithuania’s tech talent pool compare to other European countries in terms of size and expertise?

Lithuania boasts over 48,000 IT professionals, making it one of the largest tech talent pools in the Baltics. With expertise spanning multiple programming disciplines, Lithuanian developers are well-equipped to handle diverse project requirements.

• What cost benefits can businesses expect when hiring developers from Lithuania?

Lithuania offers a competitive cost-to-quality ratio, ranking second in Europe. Hiring developers from Lithuania provides access to top-tier talent at rates more affordable than many Western European countries.

• Are there specific tech specializations or industries where Lithuanian developers particularly excel?

Lithuanian developers are proficient in a range of programming languages, with PHP, .NET, and Python being dominant. The country’s IT achievements span various sectors, from fintech to e-commerce, showcasing their adaptability.

• How does Lithuania’s educational system support the continuous influx of skilled developers into the market?

Lithuania places a strong emphasis on STEM education, ensuring a steady stream of well-trained IT professionals. Additionally, many universities offer specialized IT courses in collaboration with tech companies, ensuring industry-relevant training.

• How proficient are Lithuanian developers in the English language?

Lithuania has a high English Proficiency Index score, so the majority of local professionals are fluent in English.

Looking for top software developer talent? Talk to Mobilunity about nearshoring Lithuania solutions and find the best candidates effortlessly!

Written by:

Anastasia Stefanuk

Market Researcher

Disclaimer: All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.