When you think of Brazil, what comes to your mind? Soccer? Carnival? Beaches? Well, you should be thinking about software development too!
The country has a rich history of emphasizing technical education, producing highly skilled developers who stand out among their regional counterparts.
Brazil has a population of over 200 million people, offering a huge market for the IT services to grow.
But let’s talk about numbers.
According to a study by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) and the International Data Corporation (IDC), investments in IT (software, hardware, and services) reached US$ 45 billion in 2022 alone. When compared to other countries worldwide, Brazil ranks 12th in terms of IT investments, alongside notable countries like South Korea and Italy.
Now that you’re aware of the size of the Brazilian market, let’s address the questions posed in the title.🙂
HOW?
There are many ways nowadays for companies from anywhere in the world to hire people from Brazil.
Traditionally, companies that wanted to hire someone abroad had to sponsor a visa for the employee. This is still a common practice, and the petition is done at the US Department of Homeland Security.
However, the pandemic in 2020 brought another type of work to popularity: remote work. This means the company no longer needs to pay for the employee to come to the United States to work. Now, two additional options are available: Direct Hire or Outsourcing.
With Direct Hire, it is important to know that the legal requirements for conducting business vary on a state-by-state basis. Your company can hire while obeying the worker’s laws in Brazil (compliantly) or hire your software engineers as contractors.
The other option is using an outsourcing company to manage all of your legal, compliance, and financial matters. This is a common practice for startups to reduce risks and costs of hiring abroad.
WHERE?
That is a great question. Brazil has some large tech hubs where you can find all the technologies you possibly need to develop your product. The biggest ones are São Paulo, Florianópolis, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and Recife.
However, if you prefer visual data, take a look at the distribution of investments in IT in 2022, based on the study by ABES and IDC:
*São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte are in Southeast ; Florianópolis are in South ; Recife are in North East
HOW MUCH?
Again, that’s a great question. In the IT world, salaries really depend on many factors: seniority, technology knowledge, experience with agile methodologies, and more. Providing an exact number is impossible, and anyone claiming otherwise is simply not being truthful.
Moreover, simulating salaries for US companies is not a straightforward task due to one crucial factor: Many developers see international opportunities as a means of career growth. Similar to the way you consider career growth when being promoted from mid-level to senior, Brazilian developers who are already seniors, earning a good salary relative to the cost of living in Brazil, aspire to have their salary in dollars and new experiences abroad.
Considering this, you cannot simply base your salary range on research from Brazilian companies. Instead, you need to look at a very specific database: Brazilians working in US companies.
However, if you still want some numbers, I can provide you with some insights. Based on our internal research, you can consider the following salary ranges for Brazilian software developers:
*Salary base, not including benefits
DOESN’T IT FEEL GOOD…?
Having Brazilian developers on a team brings technical prowess, adaptability, and cultural diversity, fostering innovation and elevating overall performance. And I didn’t even mention the time zone advantage of being only 1 hour away from New York.
And if you’re thinking: Ok, how do I start? GeekHunter is here to help you understand what’s the best way of hiring – Direct or through nearshoring – and how much your company is going to save having the top tech talents from Brazil.
Fill out this form, we’ll be happy to help you and your company.
