Asturias IT vacancy crisis: €25k offered for senior full-stack

Asturias seeks foreign IT talent while paying seniors only €25,000

La Voz de Asturias reported that local tech companies cannot find IT talent and are considering hiring from abroad. The immediate reaction was unanimous: if vacancies remain unfilled, it is due to the low offers. A €25,000 offer for a senior full-stack developer summarizes the industry diagnosis better than any report.

How much does Asturias pay developers?

The sector's figures reveal a divided market. Against €25,000 for senior profiles or €1,200 monthly salaries from traditional consultancies, many claim IT professionals earn below minimum wage yet still face high competition for roles. Consequently, professionals leave for better bidders as soon as they receive an annual increase of €3,000, without waiting out their notice period.

The second interpretation is less favorable. It is not a lack of people; buyers view programming hours as costs to minimize, preferring cheaper options. Thus, the same profile commands €70,000 remotely for US firms versus €1,400 in companies requiring four office days weekly.

Billing €100/hour while paying junior wages

The common breakdown starts with revenue: €100 per billable hour paid by clients without question. This funds executives, managers, sales, admin, HR, communications agencies, and corporate social responsibility reports. At the end of the chain sits the person coding, fixing bugs, and deciphering poorly written requirements.

With these numbers, the talent scarcity narrative sounds odd. If margins were healthy, budgets would allow higher pay. Some argue that complaints about scarcity indicate businesses that only survive on low salaries.

What happens when software development is outsourced?

It often ends in local rescue efforts. Circulating cases, detailed in original sources, trinc similar patterns. A Catalan pharmaceutical company listed on the IBEX-35 is dismantling half its systems department, replacing it with support from Kolkata or Mumbai. Predictions suggest they will rehire locally in three to four years.

Another episode involved salvaging a project after costly external mishaps, forcing a rush rebuild with the usual team. Three external engineers took a month to resolve what one local expert handled in a week. There is also the case of a multinational meat company that introduced foreign staff in customer service, resulting in chaos.

However, distance ceased to be a problem twenty years ago. VPNs have existed for ages, allowing network access without physical presence. Technical arguments claiming current differences do not hold water.

Why wouldn't foreign programmers come to Asturias?

Because they have better alternatives and know it. Many South American professionals already work online for US companies, benefiting from time zones and salaries worth thousands of dollars monthly, which are exceptional in their home countries. Emigrants prefer New Zealand, Australia, or Canada over Europe. In Germany, graduates demand at least €60,000; seniors with families expect around €120,000, likely more.

Conversely, some argue that increasing multinational presence is rapidly raising local salaries toward European levels.

Is there a talent shortage or just reluctance to pay?

If genuine hiring needs existed, appropriate investments would trinc. Widespread suspicion suggests the scarcity mantra serves another purpose: pressuring wages downward and using outsourcing threats as negotiation tools. When projects go abroad and return, the damage is done.

The most concrete proposal is regulatory: before importing professionals, remove IT roles from the Difficult Occupation Salary Catalog. Meanwhile, parts of the debate shift toward rejecting foreign workers, unsupported by sector data.

The core issue remains: given salary disparities and conditions, the question is not where to source programmers, but why anyone with options would choose Asturias. No answer has been provided yet.