Find Indian programmers: here’s how
Numerous companies in Germany are complaining about a growing shortage of IT specialists.
Many open positions for developers of software can no longer be filled. The shortage of highly qualified IT specialists with university degrees is particularly serious.
Following the outsourcing of software development that has taken place in large parts of the economy, many companies are additionally finding it difficult to find sufficiently large IT development resources.
The IT staffing gap, which has now grown to six figures, is affecting the economic development of many businesses.
Highly qualified specialists from India offer a way out of the precarious situation in filling jobs for software programmers.
The subcontinent’s human resources potential is enormous: every year, hundreds of thousands successfully complete their IT studies in India.
The IT industry association NASSCOM, which represents 1,200 Indian and international IT companies, puts India’s IT labor market at three million workers: India is the world market leader in software development.
The high expenses incurred in Germany for the development of IT applications are also a reason for an intensive search for programmers in the less expensive India.
As a location for IT developments, India has considerable cost advantages over Germany. Companies that have involved Indian IT experts in the development of their apps report savings in training and salary costs of over 50 percent.
It is therefore only logical that the vast majority of global IT projects are already being commissioned from IT specialists in India.
Recruit IT specialists from Asia in a targeted manner
Not only large corporations, but also small and medium-sized companies take various approaches to finding suitable software programmers in India and integrating them into their company.
Employment of foreign IT specialists in Germany
One option for personnel acquisition is to engage an IT service provider in India to find qualified specialists and persuade them to relocate to Germany. The corporate customer from Germany discusses the requirements profile with the staffing company, which then publishes a job advertisement in India and searches for suitable candidates. A recruitment agency in Europe then conducts interviews with the candidates in question and checks whether they fit into the team of the client company. Selected applicants are offered a job at a company location in Germany, for example.
Before transferring to Germany, it is also possible to agree on a probationary period of several months at an Indian location selected by the agency. German companies use the probationary period to test the knowledge of the new software programmers and at the same time familiarize them with work processes and company structures. For employment during the probationary period, the more favorable salary conditions customary in India usually apply.
Alternative: Hiring of IT professionals with place of work and residence India
Other companies rely on collaboration with an experienced team of programmers in India.
In this type of cooperation between Indian and German companies, the programmer or programming team based in India remains in its familiar environment.
The background to this approach is that companies that hired IT developers from India in Germany not infrequently reported negative experiences.
Attempts to integrate workers from India into a German company have often failed because of simple things.
For example: people in India mainly live in extended families – in Germany, programmers living alone here then feel isolated.
For this reason, experienced HR specialists advise recruiting a group of IT specialists from India rather than individual IT specialists if a work assignment in Germany is planned. Or sourcing employees directly in South Asia.
In addition, companies that employed or wanted to employ IT specialists from India in Germany complained about the fact that applicants sometimes lacked professional experience and that some of them demanded very high salaries. However, this is more due to finding applicants who want to come to Germany rather than IT specialists who have the expertise and work experience and who exist in South Asia but are not interested in on-site jobs in Germany.
So there is a lot to be said for working with IT specialists who can remain in their familiar environment in India.
In view of the fact that today’s IT professionals work in a globalized market, a programmer’s place of work seems less relevant than in the past anyway.
Young IT professionals continue to be sought within Germany, but trained professionals usually want to live where their families are at home and where their social networks are located. In a global world of work, he said, you have to bring the jobs to the IT professionals, not the other way around.
What should I look for when selecting IT specialists from Asia?
Finding Indian IT professionals can be done through specialized agencies.
These often have many years of experience in finding and providing such experts.
Companies looking to find a software programmer from India should also be sure to consider the vast differences in quality in the Indian IT staffing market.
Many IT service providers in India perform quite simple tasks, while other companies program complex IT solutions with highly professional so-called agile teams.
The Agile Manifesto, created by software developers in 2001, describes basic principles of agile work, particularly with regard to cooperation, communication and flexibility. Agile software development aims to minimize missteps during the development process – by improving transparency and increasing the pace of change. The design phase is reduced to a minimum and, in return, the software being developed is coordinated with the client at regular, short intervals.
When selecting programmers from India, German companies should also pay attention not only to programming know-how, but also to a candidate’s skills in terms of creating a functional design and ensuring the greatest possible usability of an application.
The type of IT project is decisive in determining which requirements a programmer must fulfill: In particular, IT specialists with knowledge of programming languages such as Java, HTML /CSS, C, Python (Machine Learning and Data Science) or the database query language SQL (Structured Query Language) are needed.
Java is usually used for Android app development, Swift programming language for iOS apps.
Hybrid apps combine the advantages of native apps that run only on a specific platform with those of web apps that can be used on all platforms.
Usually, hybrid app development is done by using different programming languages – HTML5 for the app structure, JavaScript regarding the logic, and CSS3 for the design.
Knowledge of the Dart programming language is required to use Flutter, Google’s open source framework widely used for developing cross-platform applications.
Subprojects can also be divided among several programmers with different programming language expertise.
Cooperation with an agency familiar with India’s IT staffing market appears to be extremely helpful: the partner is not only able to professionally assess the qualification profile of potential candidates, but also assists the German company with all questions regarding the aforementioned selection criteria. This also helps in finding qualified software developers. The IT agency in India supports the search for qualitatively suitable candidates and accelerates the filling of vacancies – a crucial prerequisite for the cost efficiency of IT projects.
In addition, an IT firm familiar with the labor markets in India and Germany provides advice on appropriate compensation and possible additional benefits. “Benefits” from the area of health insurance, for example, can significantly increase the loyalty of a newly acquired software programmer to a German company.
Conclusion: Possible advantages of IT specialists from Asia
Many companies are using highly qualified Indian programmers to fill their staffing gaps in the IT sector – at more favorable Indian rates compared to German salary levels.
Specialized IT companies support German companies by recruiting IT specialists from India who have the required skills in a wide range of important programming languages.
In this context, it is not uncommon to hire IT professionals consisting of several programmers.
Interesting links:
Statistics on outsourcing to India
Exchange on Quora on the topic of programmers from India
Images: Canva
Sascha Thattil ist Blogger und Geschäftsführer bei YUHIRO. Wir bauen Entwicklerteams in Indien für Agenturen, IT Dienstleister und Softwareunternehmen auf.
