Should You Build This Team in India?
Seven questions, scored against Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Philippines on overlap hours, English, cost, legal footing and bench depth.
We build India teams for a living, so here's our bias stated up front — and the reason this tool is worth running anyway: it will tell you when India is the wrong answer. On live US-hours cover, on accent-sensitive voice work, and on small senior-only teams, one of the other three usually wins. You'll see the margin, not just the verdict.
Four regions, one score
India, Eastern Europe, LatAm and the Philippines on the same scale
Overlap actually computed
Real UTC maths, with a cap on shifts nobody would staff
The margin, not just the winner
A narrow lead is reported as narrow
Every figure sourced
Including where the source is weaker than we'd like
Where does the team you're hiring for sit?
This drives the overlap maths — it's the single biggest differentiator between these regions.
All four, ranked
Live overlap
Computed from standard UTC offsets against a 09:00–18:00 day at your end, out of a 9-hour maximum. "Shifted shift" means the figure needs the team working outside local business hours. We cap how far each region can realistically shift rather than maximising the number: India up to about a 14:00 IST start, Eastern Europe and Latin America 3 hours, and the Philippines further, because Philippine BPO has a mature night-shift labour market built around US hours. Daylight saving moves these figures by up to an hour.
Where the top three actually differ
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Fully-loaded cost per engineer per year
Directional ranges only, covering mid-level to senior software engineers, employer cost inclusive of statutory contributions. Synthesised from 2026 offshore rate surveys — all published by outsourcing vendors, who have an interest in the numbers. Treat as an order of magnitude, not a quote. Non-engineering functions run lower in every region.
Where India would still be the better answer
What to do next
English proficiency figures are EF EPI 2025 national scores (123 countries, 2.2m test takers). National scores sample the general adult population rather than the graduates you would actually hire, so they understate every offshore market — India's IT-sector sub-score is 487 against a national 484, and its R&D sub-score is 592. We report the national figure anyway, because it's the comparable one. Cost ranges are directional vendor-survey estimates, not quotes. Overlap is computed from standard UTC offsets. This tool is a starting frame for a decision, not advice on it.
Talk it through before you commit a headcount plan
A Wisemonk expert pressure-tests this against your roles, your timeline and your existing footprint — free.
