Finding good software engineers is hard almost everywhere in Europe. Many companies try to solve it by hiring locally for longer, paying more, or sending work far offshore. Each option has its limits. Nearshoring, working with a team in a nearby country, sits in between, and Portugal has become one of the most common places companies look.
We have spent our careers building and scaling engineering teams, so we know the questions that come up before a company takes this step. This article covers the main ones, plainly and without the sales pitch.
Working hours that actually overlap
Portugal uses Western European Time, one hour behind Amsterdam, Berlin or Paris, and the same as London. In practice this means your teams share almost the whole working day. Stand-ups, planning sessions and quick calls happen at normal hours, not early in the morning or late at night.
This matters more than it seems. When a question can be answered in ten minutes instead of the next day, work moves faster and fewer misunderstandings pile up. Teams that share the day also tend to feel like one team, not a supplier on the other side of the world.
A familiar legal and business environment
Portugal is a member of the European Union and uses the euro. For a company based elsewhere in the EU, that removes a lot of friction. There is no currency risk on invoices, contracts follow familiar principles, and data protection falls under the same GDPR rules you already work with.
This does not remove the need for a good contract. You still need clear terms on intellectual property, confidentiality and notice periods. But you are working inside a framework you understand, which makes those conversations simpler.
The talent pool
Portugal has a solid base of universities with strong engineering and computer science programmes, and a growing technology community in cities such as Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Coimbra and Aveiro. Engineers commonly work with the same technologies you use: Java, .NET, JavaScript frameworks, Python, cloud platforms and mobile development.
English is widely spoken in the technology sector, and most engineers are used to working in English every day, in documentation, code reviews and meetings. Many have already worked on international projects.
That said, the market is not unlimited. Good senior engineers are in demand in Portugal too. A partner who knows the local market, and who can tell you honestly how long a search will take, is worth more than one who promises a full team next week.
Culture and ways of working
Portuguese professionals are generally described as collaborative, adaptable and comfortable with direct, informal communication in a work setting. Agile practices are common, and most engineers will be familiar with Scrum or Kanban.
There are differences, of course. Every country has its own habits around hierarchy, feedback and planning. These are small compared to working across continents, but they are worth talking about openly at the start. A short session on how each side prefers to work often prevents months of small frustrations.
Choosing the right model
Nearshoring is not a single thing. Before you look for a partner, it helps to be clear about what you need:
- Team extension. You add one or more engineers to your existing team. They follow your processes, join your meetings and work on your backlog. This works well when you have a strong team and simply need more capacity.
- A dedicated team. A complete team, often with its own lead, works on a product or a clear part of one. You keep control of priorities, while day-to-day organisation is shared.
- Your own delivery hub. For longer-term plans, some companies build their own presence in Portugal, with help on hiring, setup and operations, so the team becomes fully theirs over time.
- Recruiting only. Sometimes you just need help finding the right person, and you will employ them yourself.
None of these is better than the others. The right choice depends on how much management capacity you have, how long you need the people, and how close you want them to your core team.
What to ask a potential partner
A few questions will tell you a lot:
- How do you find and assess engineers, and who makes the final decision?
- Will the engineers work only on our project?
- What happens if someone leaves or is not the right fit?
- Who owns the code and the intellectual property?
- How easy is it to scale the team up or down?
- Can we speak with the engineers before they start?
Clear, specific answers are a good sign. Vague ones usually mean you will discover the details later, at a less convenient moment.
Starting small
The companies that get the most out of nearshoring usually start with a small step: one or two engineers, or a single team on a well-defined piece of work. They invest time in onboarding, treat the new people as part of the team, and grow from there once trust is in place.
At Boomit, we help international companies build, extend and scale their software teams from Portugal. If you are considering nearshoring and want an honest conversation about whether it fits your situation, we would be glad to talk. You can reach us through boomit.pt/contact.