- Stripe, HubSpot, and Google established teams based in Colombia at a time when senior-level talent is increasingly scarce and expensive in US markets.
- Colombia’s decade-long investment in tech education and its ecosystem of high-growth local companies produced talent who are already operating at senior-level and familiar with US enterprise environments.
Stripe, HubSpot, and Google all built senior-level teams in Colombia within a few years of each other. Companies at that level do not make headcount decisions casually, which makes the convergence worth studying.
What they found in Colombia was not a cheaper version of their US hiring. It was access to director-level engineers with real scaling experience who were nearly impossible to source domestically at any price.
That’s the story here.
Why This Is Happening Now
When Stripe, HubSpot, and Google set up teams in the same country within a few years of each other, that is a signal worth studying. These companies run rigorous talent analyses before committing headcounts anywhere.
They landed on Colombia. And the part that stops you is what they were hiring for.
These aren’t the typical support centers or junior pipelines. These companies filled roles of senior individual contributors, the kind of people who own architecture decisions and drive product outcomes.
The Supply Problem at the Top
Senior IC talent in US hubs is scarce and expensive. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage for US software developers at $133,080 as of May 2024, with the top 10% clearing $211,450.
But the same supply squeeze applies to senior ops and product roles. Experienced people who can own decisions in those functions are just as hard to find at a reasonable cost.
Colombia built the other side of that equation. Tech employment there grew 27% in 2023, the highest rate in Latin America, with over 150,000 people now working in tech. Between 2010 and 2023, more than 381,000 people graduated in fields tied to the sector.
Lesson One: They Hired for Seniority, Not Savings
Cost matters when it comes to hiring senior-level talent, but it’s not the only reason why these big companies hire from Colombia.
Salaries in Colombia run 40 to 55% below US equivalents, giving companies more room to hire more senior people while keeping the same quality bar they hold in Austin or San Francisco. The savings funded seniority.
Lesson Two: The Scarcity Problem Is Worse Than Executives Realize
Director-level ICs are the hardest roles to fill in any org. They need to own decisions, not just execute them.
In US markets, that combination of seniority, domain depth, and practical execution experience commands a premium, and there still are not enough of them.
Colombia’s talent pipeline has been building for over a decade. More than 381,000 people graduated in tech-adjacent fields between 2010 and 2023. The operators now working at director level in Bogotá came up through Rappi, Habi, Platzi, or global firms like AWS and Globant before being recruited by US companies.
Lesson Three: The Ecosystem Signals Maturity
Senior talent grows inside real companies solving real problems. Colombia now has that environment. Local companies like Rappi, Habi, and Platzi have produced engineers who have scaled products under pressure. Firms like AWS, Globant, and Accenture have expanded operations there too.
When Stripe or Google recruits a director-level IC in Bogotá, they hire someone who has already shipped at scale.
What This Means for Leaders
The practical implication reaches beyond tech giants. If the hardest roles on your org chart are senior IC positions, your search radius is now a strategic choice.
Those who follow what Stripe, HubSpot, and Google into looking for talent in Colombia have already validated access to seasoned talent at a sustainable cost.
The map of senior talent has been redrawn. The most sophisticated companies in the world have already updated their approach. That is the part worth sitting with.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why did Stripe, HubSpot, and Google choose Colombia specifically?
A: Colombia has built a deep bench of senior tech professionals over the past decade, with over 381,000 tech-adjacent graduates since 2010 and a local ecosystem of high-growth companies that have produced director-level talent with real scaling experience. Salaries run 40-55% below US equivalents, which allowed these companies to hire at a higher seniority level within the same budget.
Q: Is this an outsourcing strategy?
A: No. These companies hired director-level individual contributors, not junior support staff. The goal was to access more senior talent within the same budget, not to reduce quality while cutting costs.
Q: How hard is it to find senior IC talent in the US right now?
A: Very hard. The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median US software developer wage at $133,080 as of May 2024, with the top 10% earning above $211,450. At those rates, the supply of truly senior ICs who can own architectural decisions and drive outcomes independently is limited in most US markets. Colombia offers a growing pool of professionals at that level, at a fraction of the cost.
