Outsourcing vs in-house QA cost: the formula
In-house hourly cost = (salary x (1 + employer contribution rate) + equipment + tools + salary x recruiting percent / 3) / productive hours per year. 4 of 24 countries have every input published in this version.
Inputs and their sources
- Salary: the published median (the middle value of the weighted observations) annual base salary for the same role and seniority (salary record, at least 2 independent sources).
- Employer contributions (social security and similar charges an employer pays in addition to gross salary): median of stated totals from at least 2 agreeing sources, with a statutory source for the country.
- Equipment: median laptop list price from vendor price pages divided by 3 years; tools: median annual per-seat price of test management tools.
- Recruiting: median agency fee percent from at least 2 sources, spread over an assumed tenure of 3 years.
- Productive hours (weekly hours divided by 5, times 260 weekdays minus paid leave and public holidays): weekly hours / 5 x (260 weekdays minus paid leave days minus public holidays).
- Outsourced side: the published median hourly rate for the same role and seniority; the page states the model.
A country comparison is published only when every input above has its sources; it then states both figures, the difference in USD and percent, and the largest overhead line, without a preference between the options.
Countries with a published comparison
Questions
How is the cost of an in-house QA engineer compared with an outsourced one?
In-house annual cost = salary x (1 + employer contribution rate) + equipment + tools + salary x recruiting percent / 3; hourly = annual / productive hours per year.
What length of employment does the in-house versus outsourced comparison assume?
Recruiting cost is spread over an assumed tenure of 3 years, stated next to the formula.
What inputs go into the in-house versus outsourced QA comparison?
Inputs are the salary record, the overhead record for the country, and the published outsourced median for the same role and seniority.
Is outsourcing QA always lower in cost than hiring in-house?
No: the formula compares a fully loaded in-house hourly cost with an outsourced median, and the result differs by country and role; 4 countries have every input published in this version.
Which overhead lines are added to an in-house QA salary?
Overhead lines: employer contributions, equipment per year, test tools per seat, recruiting spread over tenure, and productive hours.
For which countries is an in-house versus outsourced comparison published?
4 countries have a published comparison: the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland; the rest are withheld because a salary, overhead or rate input is missing.
Figures are medians of published observations converted to USD at the quarterly ECB reference rate shown in the footer. They describe market ranges on the verification date, not quotes. Monthly and annual figures assume the hours stated on this page. Confidence grades are defined on the methodology page. This site does not recommend providers.