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What an hour of IT work costs the employer
An hour of IT work for the employerLabour cost per hour worked, information and communication, 2024
- Belgium58.70 euro
- Netherlands58.00 euro
- Portugal26.60 euro
- Poland26.30 euro
- Romania23.70 euro
Skills, speed, scope and rate
A platform with integrations, AI or a mobile app needs experience you rarely find in one hire; buying it means you do not learn on your own project. Hiring a good developer often takes months before onboarding even starts, while a partner with a team can begin within weeks. Many businesses need a system built and then maintained, not a full-time developer for years: outsourcing turns a fixed salary into a project and a maintenance fee. Cost comes last. An hour of IT work costs an employer 58.70 euro in Belgium against 26.30 in Poland, but management time, communication and the cost of getting it wrong weigh as much.
Where to outsource is a separate question; we compare six countries in best countries to outsource software development, and the case for a partner close by in nearshore software development. Whether to build at all or buy a package is in build vs buy software. For US companies, the practical side is in outsourcing to Europe from the US, and the checks before you pick a partner in how to choose a software development company.
What you gain, and what you give up
| Gain | What you get | What you give up | How you handle it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skills on demand | Experience in stacks, AI and integrations | Knowledge sits partly outside | Own the code and the documentation |
| Start within weeks | No hiring round | Less say over who works on it | Agree the team and a weekly demo |
| Variable cost | Pay for the project, not a salary | Every change costs money | Fixed scope per phase, a change budget |
| Lower rates abroad | Less per hour | Time zones, language, travel | An EU partner in the same or a near time zone |
| Focus | Your people stay on their own work | Someone must still steer | One owner on your side, a few hours a week |
Hiring against a partner
If the platform needs a few months of building and then a few days a month of upkeep, a partner costs less. If it needs a full team every day for years, hiring wins. What developers charge per hour is in web developer hourly rate.
Two cases for in-house
Software is your product. If you sell software and change it daily, product decisions and architecture belong in-house. You can outsource parts, not the heart.
Nobody steers. Outsourcing fails most often on missing decisions, not on code. If nobody on your side has a few hours a week to answer questions and test, no supplier can fix that for you.
The contract
Agree that you own the code, with access to the repository from day one. Ask for documentation and tests, so another team could take over. Check who processes personal data and sign a processing agreement. From 9 December 2026 the new product liability rules for software apply, and software you sell to others also meets the Cyber Resilience Act reporting duties. Hosting in the cloud? The Data Act makes switching providers easier from 2027.
Control, ownership and prototypes
How do I keep control over an outsourced project?
A weekly demo of working software, access to the repository, a fixed scope per phase and one owner on your side who decides.
Who owns the code when I outsource?
Whoever the contract names. Make sure that is you, for the code and the data, with access from the start.
Can a partner take over a prototype I built with an AI tool?
Yes. A good partner first checks access rules and structure, then builds on what holds.