Finding a good web application developer today is not easy. Especially if you don’t know what specific skills and experience they should have. The cost of creating a website can vary considerably, depending on the web design and technology you choose. Most websites are bigger and more complicated. Therefore, they require more time and additional skills to build. It helps to know what things to think about when planning your website and how this can help you when you tell your prospective web developer.
That’s why when you see how in-demand web and software developers are, you’re probably wondering how this high demand translates into dollars. According to the PayScale statistic dedicated to the average salary of web developers in the world, the graph below shows that the average salary of web/software developers in the United States is the highest globally, around $90K. Meanwhile, Ukrainian web/software developers command salaries almost three times lower than their American peers: around $27K per year (according to statistics from the Ukrainian web portal DOU).
At the same time, Ukraine has the largest tech talent pool in Europe, a convenient location, and more science graduates than Sweden, Norway, Japan, and other countries prized for innovation.
As the famous American IT entrepreneur Brett Wilson wrote about the Ukrainian software and web development business. “Ukraine’s IT sector is impressive. As one of the country’s largest industries, Ukraine’s IT industry is a key component of its future economic success. Today, Ukraine’s software and web development export volume is of about $2 billion in a year.”
The export volume of Ukraine’s web development and software industry reached at least $2.5 billion in 2015 (number 3 export sector), showing double-digit growth year on year. This is just a fraction of the country’s potential, and given its large skilled workforce, economists predict the two billion-strong industry will grow 85% over the next six years. In addition, the US market is the main destination for Ukrainian IT companies, with an estimated volume of 80% of exported services.
I should mention that Ukraine IT NEWS has stated that, far from being completed, Ukraine’s reform effort is significant, with several e-government projects launched in 2015. Major legislative changes are expected in the short term in the field of IP protection , in line with the 2014 Association Agreement signed with the EU. IT service export regulations will be simplified, while local IT companies will be better protected from red tape and corruption.
Speaking of technology, we also compare prices for web development in the US and Ukraine job markets based on programming language.
The most common language is still Java (23% of the market), JavaScript is second (16%), slightly ahead of C# in popularity. In fourth place, as before, – PHP (13%) with a large margin of Python (8%). C++ programming takes 5% of the market, followed by Ruby (4.5%), Swift and Objective-C. Closes the ten most popular languages - Scala (1.5%), ahead of C and 1C.
The next step is to analyze the scope of implementation of these technologies. The useful source of information to consider is the IEEE spectrum. This is a resource that determines popular programming languages by weighing many different factors, such as the number of job site listings, current search trends, or open source center projects. This is what they determined for 2016.
Predicting Web Developer Hiring Trends for 2017
Hiring the right web developers has always been a challenge for CIOs, and 2017 is no different; key languages in demand are likely to remain in that position. Some 63% of IT industry leaders expect 2017 salaries to remain close to their 2016 equivalents, and 1% believe global average salaries will actually decline. Many young developers are entering the web development industry with knowledge of C, C++, Ruby, and JavaScript, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the space.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are a number of factors that influence the cost of a web development project and the salaries of web developers. In reality, it can be subjective and quite difficult to predict the cost. So, there are some factors that have an impact on the price not only in Ukraine but all over the world:
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The programming language, general technical skills and experience of a web developer.
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The experience level of a web developer (Senior/Middle/Junior). But be careful, in different companies and countries the level calculation method is different.
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The geographic location of the developer.
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Developers in the US and most developed European countries are very expensive.
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The demand and supply of that particular skill set.
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Ruby on Rails is in high demand but not enough developers. The salaries are higher than some of the other object-oriented languages.
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PHP is in high demand and there are plenty of resources, so it’s still affordable and can vary depending on your knowledge and experience of PHP frameworks.
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The complexity of the project requirements.
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The size and duration of the project.