Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan are emerging markets for remote tech talent
Covid-19, a push for digital transformation and an ongoing labour shortage have led employers to look to remote talent for their tech and digital capabilities.
But hiring remote talent isn’t a straightforward deal.
For instance, employers have to sift through several remote talent markets and their skills on offer.
Time and work culture differences as well as company hiring budgets are also other factors to consider.
But building remote tech teams becomes simpler if you know where to look.
Here are four reasons why Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan are strong contenders for remote hiring.
Indonesia and Vietnam are an hour away in terms of time differences from Singapore and Hong Kong.
For Taiwan, there are no time differences between the latter two cities.
The close proximity makes working with remote talent in Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan a lot easier when compared with countries that are further away.
With just an hour’s time difference tops, remote teams are able to work in-sync with their headquarters based in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Their salaries are also significantly lower than locally hired talent.
Here is a brief breakdown of what senior and junior developers make in Indonesia and Vietnam, compared with Singapore.
Furthermore, Indonesia and Vietnam have much larger populations.
Therefore, both countries offer much wider and more diverse talent pools when compared to Singapore and Hong Kong.
Indonesia, for instance, has 270 million people, while Vietnam has 96 million people.
Related: Remote hiring for startups
Taiwan is home to many tech giants and unicorns. Google, Foxconn and Appier are just some of the famous ones.
These tech giants have also taken it upon themselves to train large numbers of graduates in tech functions.
Hence, you get skilled engineers, data analysts, AI specialists and R&D specialists from Taiwan.
The island has a highly educated yet cost-competitive workforce.
It offers employers who want to automate some of their manual processes a skilled tech labour pool that won’t break the bank.
Related: Taiwan tech talent report
Vietnam has attracted tech investments from multinational corporations and Fortune 500 companies since 2005.
Its digital economy and manufacturing sector have thrusted the country into the tech talent limelight.
With a projected growth of US$52 billion by 2025, the digital economy has produced many skilled locals well-versed in machine learning and AI.
On top of DevOps, they are also proficient in data science and blockchain technology.
Its fast-growing economy has translated into a high literacy rate, with 96 percent of them considering themselves literate.
Combined with the promising outlook, employers can look forward to a growing pool of graduates qualified in specialised tech skills.
Related: Southeast Asia startup tech talent report 2021
Indonesia’s unicorns, or startups worth more than US$1 billion, have created such high demand for tech talent that the country faces its very manpower shortage.
The digital economy is projected to grow by over US$100 billion by 2025. It is the region’s largest digital economy by far.
Education institutions recognise this and are offering more tech programmes to keep up with demand.
About 2 million grads enter the workforce annually, which gives employers the advantage of a diverse workforce.
Indonesia’s e-commerce-powered economy has turned up tech professionals skilled in web development, data science, fintech and machine learning or artificial intelligence.
Related: Indonesia may hold the key to winning the war on tech talent
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