Everything You Should Know About Outsourcing Software Development to Georgia in 2024

Since the early 2000s, Georgia has undergone sweeping reforms in higher education, improved its business environment, and encouraged tech companies to hire remote software engineers from the country.

This article tells you about the state of digital transformation and specific hiring options, as well as provides a list of job boards and directories for developers in Georgia.

What to Know About Georgia: Basic Information and Indicators

• Capital: Tbilisi
• Currency: Georgian Lari (GEL)
• Official language: Georgian
• Timezone: UTC +4
• Population: 3,709,000
• Average developer’s salary: $91,222 / year ⁽*¹⁾
• Business Climate: A3 ⁽*²⁾
• Country Risk Assessment: C ⁽*³⁾
• Political Stability: -0.4 ⁽*⁴⁾
• Ease of doing business ranking: 83.7 (7th) ⁽*⁵⁾
• Human Capital / Skills: 69.8 (46th) ⁽*⁶⁾

⁽*¹⁾ according to Glassdoor, position: Senior Software Engineer. Last updated: June 2022.

⁽*²⁾ according to Coface. Business climate assessment reflects whether corporate financial information is available and reliable, whether the legal system provides fair and efficient creditor protection, and whether a country’s institutional framework is favorable to intercompany transactions. Rating scales: A1, A2, A3, A4, B, C, D, and E. Last updated: February 2022.

⁽*³⁾ according to Coface. Country Risk Assessment reflects the average level of short-term non-payment risk associated with companies in a particular country. Rating scales: A1 (low risk), A2, A3, A4, B, C, D, and E (extreme). Last updated: February 2022.

⁽*⁴⁾ according to The World Bank. Political Stability and Absence of Violence/Terrorism measures perceptions of the likelihood of political instability and/or politically-motivated violence, including terrorism. Estimates give the country’s score ranging from -2.5 (lowest) to 2.5 (highest). Last updated: September 27, 2021.

⁽*⁵⁾ according to The World Bank Doing Business 2020 report. Doing Business measures the processes for business incorporation, getting a building permit, obtaining an electricity connection, transferring property, getting access to credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, engaging in international trade, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency. Data are current as of May 1, 2019.

⁽*⁶⁾ according to the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2019. The Skills performance rate assesses the quality of education and the general level of skills such as digital literacy, interpersonal skills, and the ability to think critically and creatively.

Technological Development in Georgia

The first things that come to mind when you hear about Georgia are the narrow streets of old Tbilisi, sulfur baths in the main streets of the capital, wine tours, and Batumi—the city of love on the Black Sea. Apart from being a beautiful country, Georgia is undergoing reforms and supporting technological innovation, and seeking closer economic and cultural ties with Western countries.

By organizing web design classes, startup funding workshops, international conferences on AI technologies for war crimes investigation, and coding schools for women in support of the FemTech sector, Georgia wants to demonstrate technical excellence on its path to joining the European Union.

State institutions in Georgia are undergoing a digital transformation. As an example, The Bank of Georgia, which announced its relocation to Metaverse in February, hosts presentations about new app releases and its payment management platform in the same fashion as Apple or Google hold their keynote events.

Georgia ranks seventh for Ease of doing business, one position behind the United States, for having the least number of requirements for starting a business. Its numerous trade agreements, including with the EU and China, and an improving business environment have encouraged tech companies to consider Georgia for company expansion.

EPAM, a global IT service provider with 60,300 employees, opened an office in Georgia in 2020. Viber, which is owned by Japanese technology giant Rakuten, decided in May 2022 that it would open a Tbilisi-based office for mobile application development.

In light of globalization and the hunt for tech talent, Georgia, as a country with a very high human development index and strong education, has become a point of interest for companies looking for remote software engineers.

Technical Education in Georgia

Since 2004, higher education in Georgia has undergone sweeping reforms when its new standardized nationwide tests—similar to America’s SATs—overhauled the country’s corrupt educational system. Today, Georgian technical universities maintain close ties with European associations as the country paves its way to EU membership.

Business and Technology University (BTU) in Tbilisi offers degrees in Digital Marketing, Information Technologies, Business Administration, and Information Systems Management (DevOps). In 2019, the university launched Coding School for Women to promote the education and professional development of female programmers in the FemTech sector, which is showing strong growth by offering consumer-centric solutions addressing women’s health. BTU also offers software development webinars and EU-funded cybersecurity forums and meetings.

Both domestic and international students can enroll at the University of Georgia. In 2020, the United States Agency Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) financed the university’s development to bring educational infrastructure in accordance with western standards. Its School of Science and Technology has educational programs in Information Technology, Pure and Applied Mathematics, and Blockchain-distributed Information Systems.

Georgian Technical University has a 100-year history and is a member of The European University Association, which helps higher education institutions shape European policies affecting innovation and research. The School of Informatics and Control Systems offers degrees in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering Technology.

Hiring Remote Developers From Georgia

Companies are entering new markets, and globalization and the move toward cloud services have paved the way for remote-talent hunting. Eastern European developers are also looking for new growth opportunities, as the local labor market is limited.

Focused on innovation, Georgia is a great country to hire developers. Companies located in Europe are in similar time zones, so it’s more convenient to fly to meet with their team. Salary rates in Georgia are lower than in Western and Central Europe, and although the level of English proficiency is generally moderate, their technical skills are at a decent level thanks to a strong education. It’s worth noting developers from Georgia are more often introverts, so they are more willing to talk about work experience and technical issues in interviews.

We highlight specific features for each of the four remote hiring models and suggest a list of job boards and directories for developers in Georgia. These links will guide employers on where to post jobs, find contractors, or discover local meetup groups to connect directly with engineers.

Outsourcing to Georgia

Tech companies use the outsourcing model when they need a development team for a custom software solution but have encountered difficulty hiring internally or in a small local market. The outsourcing model is also great for non-technical companies because they can focus on the core aspects of their business and assign development to a reliable software agency.

The outsourcing model allows you to hire a dedicated team that includes a project manager, developers, QA engineers, and UI/UX designers. However, this model is not fast. Management will spend time finding and vetting agencies and communicating with them individually.

Outsourcing companies in Georgia already have established processes, with sales departments actively listening to customer needs and closing complex deals. However, they are wonderful negotiators, and often try to sell additional people to the customer.

The portfolio of Georgian companies has a range of solutions, from ERP Systems and e-commerce projects to 3D projection mapping installations.

For a list of custom software development companies in Georgia, go to Clutch or LinkedIn. For the latter, use “development outsourcing” or “software development services” queries, and filter the results by country and industry.

Some of the companies registered on Clutch claim they have an office in Georgia, but there is no such information on their official websites. So employers will have to navigate through each agency’s website to find development teams from Georgia.

In-house Hiring in Georgia

Tech companies use in-house hiring to build their core team and culture with full-time employees. In addition, in-house team members tend to be more motivated—they explore a product in detail because they are committed to developing it and growing the company.

Employers can use online boards like Glassdoor to post a job. Additionally, they can search LinkedIn profiles by filtering by location, industry, and service categories.

Employers can also find meetup groups in Tbilisi or look for developer conferences in Georgia to meet professionals.

Hiring a Contractor in Georgia

Companies hire remote contractors to expand their in-house development team quickly. A model called staff augmentation uses full-time employed software engineers from outsourcing agencies to increase their existing in-house team. However, unlike assigning or handing over an entire project to an IT outsourcing company, employers manage programmers and communicate with them directly.

Employers can quickly hire several engineers with the required skills using the talent pool of YouTeam contractors from Georgia. YouTeam provides a verified list of candidates within 48 hours of contact. Furthermore, YouTeam automates contract signing and billing between customers and software development vendors.

Hire developers from Georgia with YouTeam

Hiring a Freelancer in Georgia

Hiring freelancers is suitable for short-time projects, small tasks, and companies with limited budgets. In contrast to dedicated development teams and contractors, freelancers are often responsible for several jobs, and the quality of their output could be subpar to that of the client’s specifications. Employers don’t have the same control over a freelancer as they do with a contractor or in-house employee.

Companies can post a job or let recruiters handpick technical talent in Georgia on UpWork.

Why Choose YouTeam to Hire Remote Developers from Georgia

YouTeam’s pool of developers consists of engineers with diverse skills. Our staff augmentation model uses full-time employed software engineers from software development agencies to expand an existing in-house team. Compared to project outsourcing, YouTeam contractors work directly with the in-house team, while the customer retains full control of the development process.

Unlike hiring in-house remote talent, employers hiring contractors through YouTeam don’t need to make retirement contributions or pay for health insurance, bonuses, vacations, office rental, or workstations.

Here are some other advantages of using YouTeam to expand development teams:

• Staff augmentation will allow employers to address skill gaps quickly with additional expertise. YouTeam provides a verified list of candidates within 48 hours of contact.
• YouTeam pre-interviews middle and senior developers to ensure that they are the best fit to meet customers’ requirements.
• YouTeam automates contract signing and billing between customers and software development vendors. There are no commitments before this point.
• The contract ensures the secure IP transfer from the engineer to the vendor and from the vendor to the company.
• A dedicated Customer Success Manager helps facilitate cooperation with engineers, assists with team expansion requests, and answers any legal or financial questions.
• Our developers are focused on long-term cooperation. YouTeam’s average engagement is two years.

Median Hourly Rates for Software Development Services in Georgia by Technology, According to YouTeam