Nearshore is becoming more and more popular as an effective and profitable model for business.
The question is: which of the European countries is the best for IT nearshoring?
When comparing Portugal to Eastern Europe there are five aspects to take into consideration.
1. Location:
• Portugal: The country lies in a strategic location, Portugal is 2 to 12 hours away from major business centres in Europe and the rest of the world. Portugal is in the same time zone as the UK and has only a 1-hour difference between central European time.
• Eastern Europe: You can reach most European tech hubs within a couple of hours from any part of Eastern Europe. There are also direct connections with major US cities with a maximum time difference of 14 hours. Oftentimes, the time difference could be as little as an hour or two.
2. Education:
• Portugal: According to Eurostat, Portugal has the 2nd highest rate of engineering graduates in Europe in 2019 and three Portuguese universities are on the European Business School Rankings 2020 from the Financial Times – 26th, 31st and 79th position.
• Eastern Europe: Only one university in Eastern Europe is on the European Business School Rankings 2020 from the Financial Times – Prague University of Economics and Business in the 50th position.
3. Language skills:
• Portugal: The 2020 “World Talent Ranking” index categorized Portugal as 7th in terms of language skills, showing how business-friendly Portugal is.
• Eastern Europe: The best country in Eastern Europe for The 2020 “World Talent Ranking” index is Slovenia on the 12th rank.
4. Security:
• Portugal: The Global Peace Index 2020 determines that Portugal is the 3rd peaceful country in the world.
• Eastern Europe: The most peaceful country in Eastern Europe for the Global Peace Index 2020 is the Czech Republic on the 8th rank.
In addition, my colleague Gonçalo Ferrada already shared some reasons why you should choose Portugal as the best country for your Nearshore strategy.
But there are other key facts and curiosities that you should consider about Portugal as the perfect decision for your Nearshore Software Outsourcing Strategy.
According to Gartner, Portugal made it to the list of the most desirable, mature and developed locations in the EMEA Region for outsourcing and nearshoring in particular. Also, the 2020 edition of the innovation scoreboard from the European Commission highlights that Portugal is one of the 24 EU countries since 2012 with the biggest increases.
There is hardly any other country that would be such a perfect location for nearshore outsourcing as Portugal is. Over the years, lots of worldwide known companies transferred some part of their offices to Lisbon.
From the Expat City Ranking 2020, Lisbon is the third-best country for expats:
• Close to nine in ten expats in Lisbon (89%) say they are happy with the local leisure options (vs. 71% globally), the majority of which (54%) even very much so (vs. 31% globally).
• An even larger share (96%) is satisfied with the local climate and weather (vs. 64%), and 56% even very much so (vs. 26% globally), which is hardly a surprise, considering Lisbon sees close to 300 days of sunshine a year, with mean temperatures in the double digits even during the coldest months.
• However, expats like more about life in Lisbon than just the sun and the sea: not one single respondent has anything negative to say about their safety (vs. 9% globally), and close to nine in ten (87%), for example, rate the urban environment positively (vs. 65% globally).
• While around four in five respondents are generally satisfied with their job (79% vs. 65% globally) and work-life balance (83% vs. 64% globally)
• Nearly two in three (66%) are satisfied with their financial situation (vs. 61% globally), ranking the city tenth for this factor.