Outsourcing JavaScript in 2018

If you’re in the tech world you know that JavaScript is the big thing right now, and outsourcing JavaScript is no different.

The promise of a single language for both front-end and back-end work makes JavaScript an attractive proposition for both clients and software development teams. With a wide variety of front-end and back-end frameworks and JavaScript friendly databases, full-stack JavaScript applications are a reality and demand for JavaScript developers is at a record high.

But how is the tech world’s rekindled love the language affecting the market for outsourcing JavaScript ? SourceSeek has compiled data from thousands of development teams from across the globe, to provide you with detailed information to ensure you stay on top of the trends influencing the JavaScript landscape.

Key Findings

<> The average hourly rate for front-end JavaScript is $35.26/hr. This is up from $34.14/hr., in 2017.

<> Back-end JavaScript commands $37.60/hr. on average, up sharply from $34.88/hr. last year.

<> Offshore rates for both front-end and back-end JavaScript are above average, with the average across all languages coming in just over $32/hr.

<> The average JavaScript team has 9 years of experience, and has nearly 40 developers on the team.

Our Take: This last datapoint is a notable fact because the explosion of back-end JavaScript frameworks only goes back a few years, so how are so many developers claiming 9 years (an eternity in IT) of experience? The reason is simply that JavaScript has been around for a long time, and many developers used it for front-end work over a decade ago. This, however, doesn’t necessarily translate into solid back-end experience. A great front-end scripter who knows jQuery inside-out may struggle to organize a large-scale application or efficiently use a noSQL database. So, at SourceSeek we advise clients to assess front-end and back- end JavaScript skills carefully, making sure that back-end JavaScript developers understand application design in addition to just JavaScript syntax.

Outsourcing JavaScript by Industry

JavaScript specialists are not surprisingly working primary in the hottest industries in offshore development: e-Commerce, Healthcare, and Finance/Banking .
While most industries have proportionate representation for front/ back-end JavaScript, it appears that the healthcare industry is disproportionately focused on back-end JavaScript, while e-Commerce predictably invests more in front-end technologies, to improve user experience and conversion metrics.
Front-end JavaScript has the strongest representation in the European and American regions, with over 15% teams in those regions focusing on front-end JavaScript.

Our Take: This reflects widespread adoption of front-end technologies like Angular and the many newer frameworks which are emerging constantly. Would be great to have any more detail on who/where companies are jumping into js

Outsourcing JavaScript by Region

South American and Eastern European teams appear to be excellent options for outsourcing JavaScript teams, with competitive pricing below $40/hour, large teams of over 30 developers, and 8 to 9 years of experience on average.
Asia has by far the lowest pricing for outsourcing JavaScript, but that is consistent with all languages – development is least expensive in Asia, generally.
Middle Eastern, North American, and Western European teams command the highest prices, all above $45/hour, but they have the experience to back up their pricing too, with teams averaging at least 10 years of experience.

Back-end JavaScript has less specialists across the board that front-end JavaScript, with most regions hovering around 5%

Our Take: We hear from many teams who are interested in moving into back- end JavaScript work, and are hoping to train front-end JavaScript pros into back end JavaScript developers. This effort, however, seems to be harder than was expected by many teams, so teams are slowly to deploy back end resources as compared to front-end coders.

Central American is investing the most heavily in JavaScript, with strong 1.7% gains since last quarter
Teams in Western Europe seem to be rapidly abandoning JavaScript of all types, with over 2% drops for both front and backend since last quarter.

Our Take: However this may simply be reflecting a correction from the last few years. As JavaScript gained popularity, many teams wanted to meet demand and provide JavaScript services, leading to a spike in teams specializing in JavaScript. As other technologies gain popularly, we are likely just seeing some of the teams who pursued JavaScript as part of a trend revert back to their original competencies.

To download our latest version of Decoded: An Insider’s Guide to the Outsourcing Industry, click here. The guide is entirely free and filled with tons of pricing data, industry trends, and much more.