What is the talent pool like for Nearshoring in Egypt?
- Gegidze • გეგიძე | Marketing
- Jun 6
- 16 min read
Table of contents:
Why Egypt’s tech talent is grabbing global attention
If your hiring strategy still ends at Lisbon, Bucharest, or Warsaw, you’re late.
Because while everyone else is fighting for the same overpriced senior devs, Egypt’s quietly producing 50,000+ tech grads a year, and keeping them.
These aren’t entry-level interns pushing pixels.
They’re backend engineers in Alexandria shipping fintech apps. They’re QA leads in Cairo, setting up Cypress tests before you’ve had your morning espresso.
They’re DevOps engineers managing AWS workflows who’ve never stepped foot in your office, and don’t need to.
Here’s the twist:
You’re not just saving on cost.
You’re gaining timezone overlap, serious English fluency, and full legal compliance when you do it right.
Nearshoring to Egypt isn’t about “outsourcing to somewhere cheaper.”
It’s about hiring better, in a place that’s stable, skilled, and shockingly overlooked.
Want to hire smart in 2025?
Don’t follow the crowd. Hire where they haven’t looked yet.
What does nearshoring to Egypt mean
Let’s clear this up before we go any further:
Nearshoring to Egypt doesn’t mean outsourcing.
It doesn’t mean spinning up a freelance contract, crossing your fingers, and wiring money to an IBAN you hope belongs to your new dev.
Nearshoring, done right, is about structure.
Legal employment.
Payroll compliance.
Real team integration.
And with Team Up, that’s exactly what you get.
Here's how it actually works:
Nearshoring = Remote Hiring + EOR in Egypt
You don’t open a local entity.
You don’t break labor laws by misclassifying full-time contractors.
You build a real team, legally employed through our local Egyptian entity.
You pick the talent.
You manage the work.
We handle the legal stuff you don’t want to touch (payroll, taxes, contracts, filings, and HR).
You get:
Full-time employees
Legally hired in Egypt
Protected by local labor law
On payroll, with benefits and compliance handled
One monthly invoice that includes salary, taxes, benefits, and our flat EOR fee
No shell companies.
No off-the-record hires.
No, hoping your IP is protected when your app goes live.
This is real employment in a market that’s built for it, without the setup costs or admin nightmare.
Why this matters
Hiring “remotely” from Egypt through a contractor might feel easier.
Until you hit one of these:
A labor dispute that your freelance agreement doesn’t cover
A dev walking away with your code
A compliance audit from your home country or Egypt’s tax office
Or worse, your next funding round stalls because your employment structure doesn’t hold up
With nearshoring through Team Up, you skip all of that.
Your team is real.
Your setup is clean.
Your growth doesn’t come with legal disclaimers.
That’s what nearshoring to Egypt really means in 2025.
And it works better than most founders think.
Is there enough talent? (Spoiler: Yes)
Let’s put the “but is there enough talent in Egypt?” question to bed, because the short answer is yes.
The longer answer? Yes, and they’re already working on global products.
Egypt’s tech scene isn’t just big. It’s deep.
You’ve got over 150,000 IT professionals in-market.
Another 50,000+ graduate each year from universities like Cairo University, Ain Shams, and Alexandria University, many of them with degrees in computer science, engineering, and information systems.
And this isn’t diploma-only talent. These are real engineers, writing real code, who’ve already worked with startups, scaleups, and software teams across Europe, the Gulf, and the U.S.
Not just available, remote-ready
What makes Egypt different isn’t just headcount. It’s how ready this workforce is for distributed teams.
English fluency? Solid. Especially among mid/senior professionals.
Remote experience? Common. Egypt’s been working with EU and U.S. clients for years.
Timezone overlap? Golden. GMT+2 means full workday crossover with Europe and half-day with the East Coast U.S.
So if your Slack is already spread across 3 time zones, adding Cairo to the mix won’t break anything. It might just smooth it out.
Where is the talent?
Cairo is the nerve center. It’s home to the country’s top universities, biggest tech employers, and most developed coworking and startup infrastructure.
Alexandria is close behind, with a growing engineering population and slightly lower competition for hiring.
Mansoura and Assiut are emerging hubs, producing strong technical graduates, especially in backend, QA, and mobile roles.
Real skills. Real demand.
You’ll find engineers in Egypt building:
And they’re not just “freelancing.” They’re ready for full-time roles in fast-moving, product-driven teams, if those roles come with structure and support.
Top roles and skills: Talent pool for nearshoring in Egypt
If you think the Talent pool for nearshoring in Egypt means only junior devs looking for their first gig, you’ve been misinformed.
The real picture?
Egypt is home to some of the most reliable, remote-seasoned engineers in the MENA region. And the demand they’re meeting isn’t just local. It’s global, working with fast-scaling teams in the UK, Germany, UAE, the Netherlands, and the U.S.
Let’s walk through the talent that’s not just available, but already delivering.
Most In-demand roles in Egypt’s nearshore market
Frontend Developers (React, Vue, Angular)
Egypt’s frontend talent isn’t stuck in the tutorial phase. Many are already building multi-tenant dashboards, pixel-perfect SaaS interfaces, and component libraries from scratch.
What to expect:
React + TypeScript dominance
CSS that won’t collapse on mobile
Devs who understand UI/UX, and don’t just blame design
Backend Developers (Node.js, Python, Laravel, Java)
From fintech platforms to API integrations, Egypt’s backend pool is packed with engineers who know how to build and maintain scalable systems.
Highlights:
Node.js and Python lead the pack
PHP (Laravel) is still strong, especially for European SMEs
Java (Spring Boot) and .NET talent also available for enterprise builds
Full-Stack Developers
If you need flexibility, Egypt has devs who’ve shipped MVPs end-to-end, writing backend logic, building out UIs, and managing database schemas without breaking production.
QA Engineers (Manual + Automation)
Egypt is home to some of the most process-minded QA professionals in the region. And many aren’t just clicking buttons, they’re scripting automation in Selenium, Cypress, and Playwright.
What you’ll find:
Experience writing and maintaining test cases
Familiarity with Git-based workflows
Comfortable in CI/CD environments
Mobile Developers (Flutter, React Native, Swift, Kotlin)
Whether you’re building native or cross-platform, Egypt’s mobile devs have already worked on consumer apps, banking platforms, and healthtech tools used across the Gulf and Europe.
DevOps & SREs (AWS, Docker, Terraform, Jenkins)
Need infrastructure that won’t crack under pressure? Egypt’s DevOps community is strong, especially among engineers who’ve worked with cloud-native startups and know how to manage deployment pipelines, CI/CD, and observability tools.
Design & product support
Yes, you’ll find strong UI/UX designers here too, especially in Cairo’s growing startup ecosystem.
Many have experience in:
Figma, Adobe XD, Webflow
Wireframing and prototyping
Working directly with dev teams to ship designs that don’t break on handoff
And if you’re looking for product support roles, think Scrum masters, technical project managers, or even customer success leads, there’s a growing remote-ready pool with the soft skills and time zone overlap to match.
Core skills & tools across roles
Git, GitHub, GitLab workflows
Agile and Scrum familiarity
Strong written and spoken English
Experience with remote tools: Slack, Jira, Notion, Linear
Remote work discipline and async-friendly communication
Where do these skills come from
Egypt’s tech education pipeline includes top universities like Cairo University, Ain Shams, Alexandria, and GUC.
But much of the talent is shaped by:
Freelance and agency experience
Working with EU and U.S. clients
Building for real users, on real deadlines
This is not a theoretical talent market.
It’s execution-focused, tested under pressure, and ready to integrate into global teams.
How much does nearshoring to Egypt cost?
Let’s get to the part every CFO actually reads: the cost.
Here’s the good news: Hiring full-time, legally employed talent in Egypt doesn’t mean sacrificing quality or crossing your fingers on compliance. It means getting skilled developers, designers, and QA engineers at a rate that still fits inside your startup’s burn rate spreadsheet.
And no, this isn’t vague "competitive pricing" talk. We're giving you the real math.
Salary benchmarks (2025)
These are current, local market rates for full-time employees, not freelancers, not interns, not folks doing three jobs at once.
Role | Mid-Level (€/month) | Senior-Level (€/month) |
Frontend Developer (React) | €1,200 – €1,500 | €1,700 – €2,200 |
Backend Developer (Node/Python/Laravel) | €1,300 – €1,600 | €1,800 – €2,400 |
Full-Stack Developer | €1,400 – €1,700 | €1,900 – €2,500 |
QA Automation Engineer | €1,100 – €1,400 | €1,600 – €2,100 |
DevOps Engineer | €1,500 – €2,000 | €2,200 – €2,700 |
Mobile Developer | €1,300 – €1,600 | €1,800 – €2,300 |
These are gross salaries. Not contractor rates. We’re talking legally employed team members registered with Egypt’s tax authorities, with benefits, payroll filings, and labor law protection.
Total monthly cost breakdown
Now, let’s say you hire a senior full-stack developer at a gross salary of €2,300/month. Here’s what you actually pay through Team Up’s nearshoring + EOR model:
Gross salary: €2,300
Employer taxes & contributions: ~€600
EOR fee (Team Up): €299
Total monthly cost: ~€3,199
One monthly invoice. No surprise filings. No admin circus.
What's Included in That Cost?
With Team Up’s EOR setup in Egypt, your monthly fee covers:
Legally compliant employment contracts (in Arabic and English)
Monthly payroll tax filings to Egyptian authorities
Social security contributions, health coverage, and mandatory benefits
Payslip generation and salary distribution
Full IP transfer + confidentiality provisions
HR support, local onboarding, and employee documentation
Optional workspace and equipment sourcing
You're not just paying someone’s salary. You’re buying peace of mind, with all the fine print handled for you.
Need a workspace or equipment?
Want to offer your new hire a place to work or tools they’ll actually love using?
You can add:
Flex desks in Cairo or Alexandria coworking spaces: ~€150/month
Private office space (for small pods or hybrid teams): from ~€1,000/month
Equipment leasing: starting at €69/month per employee
Device purchase: we’ll source it locally and get it delivered, no customs delay, no risk
We’ll handle the contracts, the delivery, and the setup.
How it Compares Globally
Hiring the same senior developer in:
Berlin? €7,000/month (plus employer taxes, pension, and office space)
Amsterdam? €6,800/month
San Francisco? Let’s not even go there.
Egypt gives you:
Top-tier tech talent
Full legal employment
Flexible add-ons like gear and workspace
And a total monthly cost that’s often less than half
Legal, payroll, and compliance in Egypt
If you're hiring talent in Egypt without a proper legal structure, here’s the truth:
You’re either breaking something or risking something, even if it doesn’t bite today.
Egyptian labor law isn’t overly complex, but it does not play nice with vague contracts, under-the-table arrangements, or overseas "freelancer" deals that look suspiciously like full-time employment.
Let’s walk through what clean, legal hiring in Egypt actually looks like and how Team Up protects you from the mess.
1. Employment classification matters
If you developer in Cairo:
Works full-time for you
Reports to your team
Uses your systems
And takes direction from your product manager
They’re not a contractor under Egyptian law.
They’re an employee. And if you’re not treating them as one, yes, it can be reclassified by a court or the tax authority.
With Team Up:
We hire the talent under our Egyptian legal entity as their official Employer of Record.
You manage the work. We handle legal employment, fully compliant.
2. Payroll, taxes, and government filings
In Egypt, employers are required to:
Register employees with the Egyptian Social Insurance Authority
Withhold income tax (progressive up to 25%)
Pay social security contributions (employer share: ~18.75%)
File monthly payroll reports
Issue payslips in Arabic
Maintain compliant contracts and HR records
Miss any of these?
You're open to fines, audits, or backdated liability.
With Team Up:
We manage payroll compliance in Egypt. You get one invoice. Your team gets paid on time.
3. Contracts & IP protection
That one-page freelance agreement in English? Doesn’t hold much weight in Egyptian courts.
To protect your company’s IP, your contract must:
Be bilingual (Arabic and English)
Clearly outline employment terms
Include IP assignment, confidentiality, and non-compete clauses valid under local law
Be registered if required under Egyptian labor or IP law
With Team Up:
Every hire signs a locally compliant contract written by real lawyers (not AI or copy-paste templates).
Your IP is protected. Your confidentiality is enforceable.
4. Mandatory benefits and protections
Employees in Egypt are entitled to:
21+ days paid leave per year
Paid sick leave (with doctor’s certificate)
Social insurance contributions for retirement and healthcare
Notice period and severance if terminated without cause
Ignore these, and you’re not just risking goodwill—you’re risking legal action.
With Team Up:
All benefits are baked into the monthly cost. We follow every step of the Labor Code, so you don’t accidentally violate it.
5. How Team Up keeps you covered
You don’t need to open a branch office. You don’t need to hire a local HR manager.
We provide:
A fully registered Egyptian legal entity
Locally compliant employment contracts
Full-service payroll, benefits, and HR admin
IP-secure agreements
Legal offboarding when it’s time to part ways
Final thought
You came here to build a great product, not become an expert in Egyptian labor law.
We’ve seen startups lose months (and money) trying to fix things they could’ve avoided with the right setup.
Nearshoring to Egypt through Team Up keeps you clean, protected, and focused on growth.
Let your competitors take shortcuts.
You? You’ll be the one scaling smart, without the legal side effects.
Equipment and workspace setup in Egypt
Let’s be real, hiring someone remotely and asking them to “just use what you have at home” isn’t a setup. It’s a bottleneck waiting to happen.
If you want your nearshore team in Egypt to perform like your in-house team, they need more than just a laptop and a good attitude.
They need the right tools, a proper workspace, and local support that doesn’t disappear after Day 1.
That’s why Team Up goes beyond hiring.
We offer equipment and workspace solutions, so your remote team in Cairo, Alexandria, or beyond doesn’t just log in. They actually get things done.
Equipment options built for teams
1. Equipment leasing – from €69/month per employee
Ideal if you’re growing fast and don’t want to lock capital into hardware. We handle everything, sourcing, delivery, and support. Your developer gets a ready-to-go setup that works out of the box.
Laptops, monitors, and accessories—delivered locally
Monthly lease model, easy to upgrade
IT onboarding and remote troubleshooting included
2. Equipment buying – tailored pricing
Prefer to own the gear? No problem. We’ll help you choose, source, and deliver devices based on the role and workload, without any guesswork or customs delays.
Own the hardware from day one
One-time investment, no monthly leasing
Local warranty and replacement support
3. Onboarding & support – free
Whether you lease or buy, your team gets access to our local IT experts for setup, troubleshooting, and upgrades. No “just Google it” moments.
Workspace options across Egypt
Some hires love the home office life. Others want real desks, solid internet, and people around who aren’t their cat.
We offer flexible workspace plans across Egypt’s top tech hubs, primarily in Cairo and Alexandria, where the majority of remote-ready talent lives.
Flex Desk – €150/month
Access to a modern coworking space with hot desks, fast Wi-Fi, and all the essentials. Great for hybrid schedules or junior hires who don’t need a fixed desk.
Dedicated Desk – €250/month
A permanent desk with storage, reliable internet, and that sweet routine of showing up to the same spot every day. Ideal for mid-level devs and product leads.
Private Office – from €1,000/month
Need a full-time pod for 2–6 team members? We’ll set up a private office, manage the lease, and equip the space. You focus on code reviews, we’ll make sure the lights stay on.
All plans include:
Utilities
Cleaning
High-speed internet
Access to meeting rooms and shared facilities
Local hubs we work with
Cairo: The capital has the biggest tech scene. We partner with coworking spaces in Zamalek, New Cairo, and Maadi to offer central access, clean facilities, and developer-friendly environments.
Alexandria: A growing tech community with quieter, cost-effective workspaces for hires who prefer the Mediterranean coast over Cairo traffic.
Nearshoring vs contractor outsourcing
Let’s get one thing straight: not all remote setups are created equal.
If you’re hiring someone in Egypt and calling them a “contractor” just to skip paperwork, you’ve entered the legal danger zone.
At a glance, contractor outsourcing might seem faster, cheaper, and easier.
But under the surface? It’s often misclassification, zero IP protection, and a compliance risk waiting to happen.
Let’s break down the real difference and why nearshoring with Team Up isn’t just safer, but smarter.
Contractor outsourcing: Cheap until it isn’t
Here’s the typical setup:
You find a talented dev in Cairo
You sign a freelance agreement
You pay them monthly via Wise
You treat them like a full-time employee
On paper, it looks like “flexible staffing.”
In practice, it’s employment without the legal structure.
Which means:
No tax filings in Egypt (which violates labor law)
No enforceable IP transfer
No legal protection for either party
No benefits, no retention, no stability
If the Egyptian tax office, or your investor, looks closer, you could be liable for back taxes, penalties, or worse: an engineer walking off with your product and no legal recourse.
Nearshoring with Team Up: Structure without the bloat
Now, here’s how it works when you do it right.
Nearshoring with Team Up = remote hiring plus full legal employment via our local Egyptian entity.
You choose the person.
We handle employment, payroll, taxes, and compliance.
You manage the work.
We handle the risk.
You get:
A legally employed team member
Full IP ownership under Egyptian law
Tax filings and payslips are managed monthly
Benefits that boost retention
One monthly invoice, no hidden admin
Why the difference matters
Let’s say your investor asks, “Do you own the IP your team is building?”
Is your setup a contractor agreement? The answer is vague.
Is your team hired through Team Up? The answer is yes, and backed by enforceable contracts.
Or imagine a developer resigns unexpectedly.
If they’re a contractor, you’re stuck.
If they’re legally employed through Team Up, we manage offboarding, notice periods, and compliance start to finish.
Side-by-side comparison
Category | Contractor Outsourcing | Nearshoring via Team Up |
Legal Employment | No | Yes |
Tax Compliance | Often missing | Fully managed |
IP Ownership | Often unclear | Clear and enforceable |
Payroll & Benefits | None | Included |
Compliance Risk | High | Zero |
Retention & Culture | Weak | Strong |
Monthly Admin | Do-it-yourself | One invoice, done for you |
If you're building a serious team, not just outsourcing tasks, you need a serious structure.
Contractor setups may feel easy today.
But they fall apart when things get real.
Nearshoring with Team Up means:
You hire legally
You protect your IP
You retain great talent
And you scale without risk
One path leads to growth.
The other leads to cleanup.
You choose.
Why are more companies choosing Egypt?
Because hiring in the usual places is getting unusually hard.
Try finding a mid-level backend dev in Berlin who’s not juggling two offers. Or a QA engineer in Warsaw who isn’t priced like a PM. Or a contractor in Portugal who’s not moonlighting for four other clients.
That’s where Egypt comes in. Quietly, steadily, it’s become one of the smartest nearshoring moves a company can make.
Let’s unpack why.
1. Serious talent at sustainable cost
Egypt’s tech talent isn’t “getting there”; it’s already there. Developers, designers, QA engineers, DevOps specialists, you name it, trained in top local universities and sharpened through real-world product experience.
And you’re not paying €6K a month for someone who just switched to TypeScript last week.
Most mid-to-senior engineers in Egypt earn between €1,500 and €2,500/month gross.
Fully employed. Payroll compliant. Remote-ready.
Through Team Up’s EOR model, which includes:
Salary
Payroll taxes and filings
Mandatory benefits
One flat EOR fee
No hidden costs. No inflated markets. No retention drama.
2. The remote culture is already here
Egyptian professionals have been working with UK, EU, and Gulf-based teams for years.
They know Slack. They know async. They’ve been shipping features across time zones since before it was cool.
And with Cairo sitting in GMT+2, you get:
Full overlap with Central Europe
Morning overlaps with the UK
Manageable hours for East Coast U.S. teams
It’s a remote rhythm that just works.
3. English? No problem.
Egypt’s tech professionals typically graduate with strong English skills, and many sharpen them further while working with global clients.
You’re not explaining GitHub workflows over Google Translate.
You’re reviewing pull requests, talking through roadmaps, and running retros with engineers who speak your language, literally and technically.
4. The infrastructure is in place
Coworking spaces? Check.
Business centers? Everywhere.
Internet stability? Surprisingly solid in urban hubs.
Tech community? Growing fast.
From Zamalek to New Cairo, Egypt’s professional workspaces have kept pace with its talent. Whether your team prefers remote, hybrid, or private offices, there are setups ready to go.
And with Team Up, your employees can access flexible desks or fully-equipped private offices without you ever dealing with a lease or utility bill.
5. You’re still early
The best part? Egypt isn’t saturated yet.
Unlike Poland, Portugal, or even Romania, Egypt still offers:
A wide hiring pool
Lower competition for top candidates
Reasonable salary expectations
Strong loyalty when structured properly
Get in now, and you’re not just nearshoring.
You’re getting a head start.
Risks of nearshoring in Egypt (and how to avoid them)
Hiring in Egypt without structure is like driving in Cairo with no GPS and a half-dead phone battery, technically possible, but something will go wrong.
And not because the talent isn’t solid (it is).
But skipping over local labor laws, payroll obligations, and proper contracts turns what looks like a smart move into a legal mess with a side of tax surprises.
Here’s what most companies get wrong when nearshoring to Egypt, and how we make sure you don’t.
1. “Let’s just hire them as a contractor…”
Sure, it sounds lean.
Until the Egyptian tax authority sees that your “contractor” works full-time, reports to your product lead, joins daily standups, and has no other clients.
That’s not a contractor. That’s an employee in disguise.
What goes wrong:
You dodge payroll taxes until they catch up
Your IP isn’t protected by enforceable local law
Your dev walks, and you’ve got zero recourse
Your next investor does due diligence and raises an eyebrow
What we do instead:
We hire your team through our fully registered local entity.
They’re employees under Egyptian law. You get peace of mind without the setup costs.
2. Payroll? What payroll?
Sending a monthly payment via Wise might feel easy.
But in Egypt, you’re expected to:
Deduct and file income tax
Contribute to social insurance
Issue Arabic payslips
Submit monthly employment reports
Stay updated on shifting legal thresholds (and they do shift)
Miss a filing? You’re liable.
And your employee? They’re not happy when their benefits or tax records disappear.
What we do:
We handle it. All of it.
From registration to reporting, your engineer is paid right, and you stay compliant.
3. “We’ve got a basic contract. Should be fine.”
Famous last words.
A generic freelance agreement won’t hold up if things go south.
Especially in a country where labor courts lean heavily in favor of employees, and where IP ownership doesn’t automatically transfer just because you paid for the work.
You need:
A bilingual, locally valid employment contract
IP assignment and confidentiality clauses that actually mean something in Egypt
Terms that align with the Egyptian labor code: leave, notice, benefits, offboarding
We bring:
Custom-drafted, enforceable contracts written by lawyers who know Egypt’s labor code like the back of their hand.
4. Forgetting about retention
Here’s the part no one tells you:
You lose good people faster when they don’t feel like they’re part of a real team.
If you want someone in Cairo to stick around, sending a paycheck isn’t enough.
They need:
Legal job status
Clear benefits
Equipment that doesn’t crash every update
A workspace if they want one
A sense that they’re not one click away from ghosted
What we do:
We treat your hires like humans.
You manage the team. We give them the structure to stay, grow, and succeed.
Final words
Egypt isn’t “the next big thing.”
It’s already a solid, scalable, and smart place to build your remote team, iif you know how to do it right.
The talent is here.
The costs are fair.
The time zones line up.
And the teams? They’re shipping quality code, closing support tickets, running agile sprints, and doing it all without the inflated salaries or HR chaos you’ll find in other markets.
But here’s the thing: this only works if your setup is built for scale, not shortcuts.
You can’t fake legal employment.
You can’t wish away payroll obligations.
And you definitely can’t hand your product to someone overseas and hope a PDF contract covers it.
That’s where Team Up comes in.
We don’t just help you hire.
We help you hire right, compliantly, cleanly, and confidently.
So while everyone else is stuck firefighting misclassified contractors and scrambling to replace churned-out freelancers, you’ll be the one quietly building a reliable, full-time team in a market that still gives you a competitive edge.
Egypt’s not a secret.
But the way you structure your team here? That’s where the real advantage lies.
Ready when you are.