Is It Risky to Hire Software Developers in Philippines?

Anastasia Stefanuk

The Philippines is one the leading outsourcing destination in Asia. The country attracts investors, enterprises, and foreign capital with low-cost IT services. A lot of American businesses hire Filipino developers for their development projects. But like any destination, it has its pros, cons, and specifics. Companies looking to expand their payment processing capabilities may consider hiring a Cayan developer in the Philippines, where there is a thriving community of skilled software developers with experience in various programming languages and platforms.

Filipino Programmers: IT Services Market Overview

Software developers in the Philippines are in high demand because of the good knowledge of English, wide talent pool, and software development cost Philippines is relatively low. The development of the IT market has a significant impact on the country’s economy. The value of the industry here is about $3.2 billion and is expected to grow further. More and more companies consider Philippines as a software development destination because of price and quality.

According to the Philippine Software Industry Association, there are about 190,000 programmers here. And the local universities provide quality education for the new generation of Filipino programmers for hire.

Country Profile

• Time zone: GMT+8
• Average Monthly Rate: $1300
• Biggest Tech Hubs: Manila, Cebu, Davao City, Angeles, Bacolod City
• Size of Talent Pool: 190,000 professionals
• Popular Technologies: Java, C, C++, PHP, Python, Visual Basics

Overall, the main components of the ITES sector of the country are:

• Software development and release;
• BPO;
• Call centers;
• Manufacture and sales of hardware components.

The BPO is one of the main reasons a Manila dedicated team is in such demand. Good knowledge of English and westernized culture makes Philippines outsourcing software development market a great destination for many businesses.

The main trends of the Filipino IT market as for 2020 are:

• More focus on the gaming and entertainment industry;
• Incorporation of cloud solutions;
• Social media integration;
• Rise of local start-ups and companies;
• A closer focus on cyber-security solutions.

One can find a dedicated development team in Philippines that is knowledgeable in almost any technology or language. But the most popular programming languages here are:

• Java;
• PHP;
• Visual Basics;
• Python;
• .NET;
• JavaScript;
• C and C++;
• Ruby.

The revenue of the IT market has grown significantly, by 15 times in the years 2004-2018.

Pros and Cons of a Dedicated Development Team in Philippines

Why do many companies choose to hire developers in Philippines? Well, there are several reasons why this destination is so popular among western clients. Here are the main pros of IT outsourcing Philippines:

• Low cost of labor. This is the primary reason for outsourcing in general. Finding great developers outside the US or UK is much cheaper than hiring an in-house team.
• Cultural affinity to the West. As a former Spain and the US colony, the country has adopted a lot of cultural values from western society. It makes communication more convenient, especially for companies from the USA.
• There is almost no language barrier. A Philippines developer for hire on average has excellent English skills. In general, almost the whole population of the country knows English due to their history.
• It is comfortably located for clients from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. They share little time differences, which makes collaboration much more efficient.

But there are also downsides to software development outsourcing Philippines as a choice. Here are the major reasons why not to hire developers Philippines:

• Weather. Natural disasters provide a high-risk situation that can result in power loss and delays or even the cancelation of work.
• The time zone is not very comfortable for the US or European clients. It is harder to communicate directly with Philippines dedicated developers from there. And it also adds up to issues with project management and control.
• The quality of work is not always perfect. Of course, if you hire developers in Manila from a trusted provider, the risk of poor performance is lower. But without knowledge of the country specifics and labor market, one can lose money because of low-quality work.
• The country has one of the slowest internet speeds in the world.

Despite the risks, many companies find & hire programmers in the Philippines. After all, the choice is up to you and your goals and budget. When hiring software developers in the Philippines, companies can benefit from the expertise of a Xamarin mobile developer or a Microsoft cloud architect, while also effectively working with offshore teams to maximize productivity and cost efficiency.

Overall, there are obvious benefits why outsource software development Philippines worth consideration. But it is important to know that there are alternatives to Philippines software development.

Do Not Want to Hire Software Developers in Philippines? Alternative Destinations

Software developer Philippines is not the only option out there. Of course, Asia has been one of the first outsourcing hubs. Companies also hire developers in Vietnam, China, or India. While hiring software developers in the Philippines offers many advantages, some companies may also choose to supplement their team with a software developer Germany to provide an additional level of expertise and diversity to their development efforts. But nowadays Eastern Europe (and especially Ukraine) is gaining momentum with their IT outsourcing services. If you do not want to hire developers in Vietnam or the Philippines because of the inconvenience or risks, look closer at what Eastern Europe has to offer:

• The convenient location makes it the perfect choice for the EU and UK clients. It is easy to travel to and there are always direct flights.
• The time zone is much more comfortable for Europe and the USA. There is a difference with the US clients, but depending on the state, it is still possible to have a comfortable online meeting for both parties. And for Europe, there is little to no time difference, which makes project management extremely effective in comparison to a dedicated development team in Philippines.
• There are no big natural disasters that can cause power loss and serious delays in work. Such risk here is almost at zero, not like when you hire software developers in Philippines.
• Eastern Europe and Ukraine have a great reputation for the quality of work. Ukrainian programmers scored 88.7 out of 100 in HackerRank competitions and took 11^th place worldwide. And Filipino programmers took 46^th place.
• Ukraine is compliant with GDPR, which is important for not only the EU clients but all businesses that work on the EU territory.
• As a part of Europe, Ukraine shares the same business values and is generally very comfortable to work with.

Java developers for hire in the Philippines is not the only option when it comes to budget-friendly outsourcing. Eastern Europe in general and Ukraine, in particular, provide high-quality IT services at reasonable prices.Before you choose to hire software developers in Philippines, consider all the benefits Ukraine outsourcing has to offer. 

Ukraine as IT Outsourcing Destination

Ukrainian programmers have somewhat higher rates than PHP developers in Philippines for hire, but they are still extremely budget-friendly for the EU and US clients. Except for the low costs, there are other significant benefits of this outsourcing destination:

• Local professionals are highly-valued all over the world. They are known for high-quality services, that’s why there are more than 100 R&D centers of industry giants here.
• It is convenient both in terms of time zone and location. There are many direct flights to the major tech hubs.
• Although the general population is not as good at English, as in the Philippines, the IT specialists have a pretty good command of it. It is impossible to work as a software developer without great English skills, that’s why 80% of programmers know it pretty well, which makes communication easy and comfortable.
• The country has a great talent pool with more than 200,000 specialists, the majority of which are working on outsourcing projects. Local universities provide excellent education and prepare new professionals each year.

Country Profile

• Time zone: GMT+2
• Average Monthly Rate: $2000 (source – Mobilunity’s Recruitment Team research on the local job markets)
• Biggest Tech Hubs: Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa, Dnipro
• Size of Talent Pool: 200,000 professionals
• Popular Technologies: Java, JavaScript, C, C#, Python, PHP

The Philippines vs Ukraine: Comparison Table

To summarize the pros and cons of both destinations, have a look at this comparison table to make an educated choice.

The choice depends on the scope of the project, the residence of the client, and the budget. Although outsourcing software development Philippines market has many advantages, Ukrainian developers offer higher performance when it comes to quality. Ukraine is also much more comfortable for the EU and US partners in terms of location and time.

Mobilunity – Reliable Ukrainian Vendor

When it comes to IT outsourcing, it is essential to work with the best local service provider that will help you to achieve your goals. Mobilunity is a credible vendor that has more than 10 years of experience in outsourcing and outstaffing services.

We have more than 40 international clients and hundreds of successfully released projects. We can recruit the top talent Ukrainian programmers that will tackle any project. Just tell us what professionals and technologies you are looking for and consider it done.

Mobilunity shares western business values and always puts focus on the client’s needs. If you want to hire a dedicated team of programmers in Ukraine, we are here to help you.

Do you want to find the best outsourcing team for your business? Hire high-profile developers today!