Local Market Too Small or Too Tight for the Developers You Need?

Why a small market keeps costing you

A small or tight market makes the first hire slow. What makes it expensive is that the search keeps coming back:

• The same people get every call. In a small market the developers who fit are known to every employer, and larger companies can usually offer more salary or a bigger name.
• Every departure starts a new search. European tech companies lose on average 12% of their engineers a year (Ravio 2026, all reasons for leaving). In a small market each of those departures sends you back into the same pool.
• The team carries the gap. While a seat is open, the developers you have cover it, and someone spends part of the week on the search instead of on the product (see I can't get my development team staffed).

What changes when you look further

• The pool is larger. Tunga's pool of professionals from across Africa covers the common roles and stacks, and also niche ones in smaller numbers (see roles, stacks and countries). Everyone in it has been through Tunga's selection: at least 3 years of experience, interviews, technical tests and a review of their code (see how Tunga selects professionals).
• The person works with your team, in your hours. Most of Africa is within 0 to 2 hours of Central European Time, and the professional works in your repositories and team chat, under your direction (see is our organisation ready for a remote developer?).
• The language is English, or French. Most professionals work in English; in countries such as Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon also in French (see working in English or French).

Through Tunga

In the first 4 weeks either side can end the engagement at one working day's notice, so you find out early whether it works. When someone leaves later, Tunga finds the next one at no extra cost, so a departure no longer sends you back into your local market (see continuity and replacement).

What still has to be local

• Roles that have to be on site, for hardware, a lab or a client's premises.
• Roles that talk to your own clients in another language.
• Teams that work only in their own language. A remote colleague works in English or French, so this works when your team can do its stand-ups, reviews and written tasks in one of those.
• One specific senior person to lead or take over a system. That is a search for one profile, usually best done through your own network or a specialised recruiter.