How to Hire Remote Developers [F.A.Q.]?

In 2022, remote work has become the norm for everyone. Following the recent study by Similarweb, the number of remote workers increased by 18% in May compared to April. In the USA alone, remote work search volume was about 25% higher in January 2022 than in June 2021.

Following the study conducted by Apollo Technical, 22% of the US workforce is expected to work remotely by 2025.

Many big and small companies like Roth River, Frontegg, HANDLE Global, etc., hire remote developers to fully utilize all possible advantages: flexibility, time efficiency, and the ability to use a skilled professional if there’s a shortage in the area.

According to the survey conducted by PWC, more than 83% of American executives recognized that the shift to remote work affected their business positively. This has quickly become a new normal, and people unable to adjust to these circumstances now face complex challenges.

If you are wondering why and, most importantly, how to hire a remote developer, we have an answer just for you.

Why Remote Development?

Hiring remote developers may seem challenging and daunting since it takes your time, effort, and careful consideration. However, at ProCoders, we believe the overall benefits of hiring a remote workforce outweigh these minor shortcomings.

Most remote workers come from the IT sector, so if you want to hire remote software developers, it is the easiest and most effective way to go. Why so?

The Pool of Talent is Your Oyster

And your company is a pearl! Opting for remote means broadening your search horizons and expanding the talent pool of developers you want to hire. Now you don’t have to compromise quality, time, or budget – you can easily find someone who ticks all three boxes. There’s no need to stick to one particular country: the myth that the best software developers are all working in Silicon Valley is long gone. Remote web developers for hire help solve one crucial problem: the supply-demand imbalance.

In the IT industry, developed countries with fast-growing markets like the USA or EU experience the discrepancy between the growth of supply in the labor market and the demand for qualified, dedicated specialists. In the European Union, around 53% of enterprises stated it was difficult to fill IT positions and struggled with recruiting. And while the problem in the EU is aggravating slowly given the slight increase in the number of software developers (in accordance with Truelist, there’re 6.1 million developers in Europe), in the US, the professional developer base has been static for years, making matters worse.

Meanwhile, the demand for professional developers is overgrowing, so you can only imagine how hard it is to find an employee. Following the Hired statistics got in 2021, there were 224,367 interview requests for software engineering roles compared to 106,101 in 2020.

However, another question appears: how to close the growing request for IT developers? Well, the answer is easy: outsourcing and outstaffing. For example, we at ProCoders offer a wide range of developers’ services, from front-end engineers to back-end engineers and even mobile engineers, who specialize in React Native, Ionic, and Flutter, which are the most demanded and advanced technologies in this area. That way, we can quickly meet your needs and help you achieve your business milestones.

Remote Developers are More Productive

How to hire remote developers and stay on top of things? According to Great Place to Work, more than 76% of respondents are more productive while working remotely, mostly because they can work from the comfort of their own homes and forget about daily commutes and lengthy in-person meetings.

And let’s not forget that some people work best at night, so routine office nine-to-five can slowly kill their productivity and motivation. Working from home allows employees to manage time in a way that feels right for them, and this added responsibility keeps them in check while employers save time, reducing micro-management.

An American human behavior researcher Alfie Kohn believes that giving the freedom of choice to an employee increases their overall productivity and work satisfaction because it breaks the monotony of the job’s routine.

Overall Flexibility

And while we’re on the subject – flexibility is a huge advantage. It’s worth starting with the fact that it is much easier to organize joint video calls when you hire remote development team. Imagine the agony of gathering all the right people in one room and distracting them from tasks they’ve been doing. With a remote workforce, you must send an invite and press a few buttons (or even dispose of a matter in the chat).

Lower Expenditures

The cost of a remote software developer is lower only because office expenditures are out of the picture. However, consider the expenses of hiring a specialist (front-end developers, back-end developers, etc.) and providing them with an elaborate office setup, fancy computers, and other equipment, or even more significant pain in the neck – re-training an existing employee to fit your current needs. The costs would quickly skyrocket, not even mentioning the waste of time.

For example, let’s consider the UK. The average IT developer’s annual salary is £55,000. However, if you add 2% wage annual increase, 10% bonus estimate, 3% of pension pemium, 30% of hiring costs, the sum grows up to £79,750. And we haven’t mentioned all other hidden hiring costs.

US Developer Cost	Junior Software Developer	Mid-Career Software Developer	Senior Software Engeneer
Annual net salary	$64.000	$107.000	$139.000
Supplementary Pay 3,2%	$2.000	$3.500	$4.500
Insurance 8%	$5000	$8.500	$11.000
Paid Leave 7,1%	$4.500	$7.500	$10.000
Retirement and savings 3,8%	$2.500	$4.000	$5.000
Legally required benefits 7,6%	$5.000	$8.000	$10.500
Total after-tax costs	$82.500	$138.500	$180.500

However, when you hire remote developers, all expenditures are taken care of, including pension contributions, sick days, and leave of absence. That way, you have a knowledgeable employee without any supplementary costs. For example, in Poland the average hourly rate of a junior developer is $5-15, a middle developer is $15-22, and a senior – is $29-30. Which equals roughly around $24,000, $34,325, and $44,064 of annual net salary respectively. You should take that into the account while making your IT budget planning.

You can read more about offshore software developers’ rates or app developer cost per hour in our blog and compare other countries, but the overall conclusion is that hiring remote workers is incredibly cost-effective!

Factors to Consider When Hiring Remote Developers

As you can see, heading towards hiring a remote workforce is an excellent opportunity for a company to branch out and delegate tasks without worrying about core competencies and additional expenses. However, remote development teams are no longer just about low costs but innovation and technological breakthroughs that are only available through hiring craft professionals.

Thankfully, in 2022 the market is saturated with remote developers for hire, and finding a perfect match is not much of a leap. Yet, of course, the hiring process is a little different from the standard one, and there are hidden pitfalls even seasoned managers should be aware of.

Understand the Position

The significance of clearly defined boundaries cannot be overstated. Before looking for a remote extension for your team, it is a good idea to outline the skills and expertise your future employee must have. Then, when you hire remote programmer(s), ensure they match your expectations and will positively contribute to your business project.

Now, ask yourself: do you know the title and responsibilities for this post? Have you decided on your long-term goals? What skill set is mandatory, and what skills do your company employees already have to match? What is your budget, and how much can you spend on the salary? Do you want to hire remote development team or a single individual? Maybe you need to hire eCommerce developers with some unique industry knowledge?

If you have clear answers to these questions – congratulations, the hiring process will be much easier and more transparent for you and your potential employee.

Work Around the Clock

If you hire a remote programmer offshore, you may trick the time itself by using different time zones. Work gets done even when you are asleep; therefore, the process of achieving your goal does not stop for a second.

For one, the average time difference between the United States and Estonia is 6 hours, a reasonably comfortable time for check-up calls and working around the clock. Meanwhile, the difference between the USA and China is 12 hours, and between the USA and India – it is 9.5 hours, which is slightly more inconvenient.

Here at ProCoders, we adapt to the working hours of our clients, so collaborative work is ever so practical.

Conduct a Rigorous Selecting Process

You may wonder how to hire a remote developer in the same fashion as you would normally. The answer is – you can’t. You can come nigh unto a real-life interview via live video call; this is the option we recommend you use. But before even thinking about conducting interviews, you need to select appropriate candidates (the optimal number being between 6 and 8 people per post). There are cases when hiring remote development team instead of just one person is more straightforward, so consider that.

The perfect candidate has probably worked remotely before (so they have time-management and communication skills), has a good background experience in the industry, and is willing to provide feedback from their previous clients.

If you want to hire remote software developers, it would be a good idea to give them a simple technical task to see whether they can do it thoroughly and on time. You can also check their reliability and punctuality, which are especially appreciated in remote work.

Don’t forget that soft skills, in this case, are almost as important as hard skills! Time management, problem-solving, self-motivation, the ability to communicate clearly and understandably, and the ability to work in an allotment team are crucial when you hire remote developers. We at ProCoders know this better than anyone, as all our team colleagues work remotely, and we thoroughly follow all these steps before hiring anyone. If we miss any of the qualities we usually check, then the effect on the work may be crucial.

Working hours, salary, communication time, deliverables, and delivery times must be agreed upon upfront, so you might want to invite an outstaffing company to help you interview the candidate. For example, at ProCoders, you have access to the wide pool of developers of different levels, including senior and middle-level developers, to build projects on Laravel, Flutter, PHP, Angular, React Native, and more. We also have a wide selection of services, and this way, we can save you time and money.

How to Manage a Remote Team?

Managing a team in itself can be tricky, but managing an allotment team, where one or more members work in a different geographical location, can be even more complex. The most common challenges inherent in remote work are lack of communication, a new team member’s integration, and insufficient information about the project. Here are some solutions to these issues if you want to hire remote software developers.

Establish a streamlined communication

In any teamwork, whether it is working in the office or remote work, communication plays a critical role. How to hire remote developers and avoid communication problems? First, over-communicate. By that, we do not mean texting and calling every second, but rather establishing an effective way to ensure everybody on the team is aware of the task status.

Whether you use Slack, Trello, or good old e-mail, it is essential to report on the results of the work and gather feedback. As a rule, when working remotely, teams use daily text reports and large-scale weekly reports or video calls to assess the progress of completing tasks. But don’t spam your employees! Find a healthy balance between work and check-ups.

It mainly concerns remote developers for hire since they don’t work in the office. At remote work, like no other, there is a problem of social isolation from each other, so it would be useful to occasionally see each other’s faces and know who is behind the nickname.

Trust the Process

When you hire remote software developers, the matter of trust is getting high enough on the priority list. Yes, remote positions involve less micro-management on the employer’s part, but this means that the employee will have more control over their activity and will be more independent in the decision-making process.

Keeping that in mind, you need to establish trust that is based on performance and KPI. How to hire a remote developer that is reliable and dutiful? The best way to ensure it is to stick to companies that provide staff augmentation services.

Via staff augmentation ProCoders was able to help a small Israeli startup Frontegg, a social network platform Quartz Network, a modern American distillery Roth River, and many others. So we truly talk about the benefits of this method based on our own experience.

Integration Matters

On two levels: interpersonal and intercorporate. Let your team connect on a personal level by organizing small happy hours during the off-work time. Even if it’s virtual – bringing the team closer together is a focal point of any manager since studies have shown the growing efficiency of work in a friendly-minded group.

And second, it’s best to schedule personal one-on-ones with a remote worker and give a thorough rundown of everything going on with the project. When you hire a remote programmer, there is a risk of a lack of information, which can be easily avoided.

Conclusion

It is pointless to deny the importance of remote work that it has acquired in recent years. If you doubt whether working remotely is effective, discard all doubts and try it yourself! Companies that hire remote software developers for their projects (like, bespoke eCommerce website) expand their human resources’ potential and bring themselves closer to accomplishing their business projects. Do you want to learn how to hire remote developers and achieve market leadership? ProCoders is always ready to help you build a fantastic team of motivated and talented coders.