Offshore Hiring Cost Calculator

Q: Is offshore hiring cheaper than hiring in the US?

Usually by 50 to 70%. At the calculator's US baseline of $14,500 a month for a fully loaded senior engineer, a $4,599 to $5,999 offshore engineer saves roughly $8,500 to $9,900 a month per hire. Set your team size and engagement length above to see the total.

Q: When does setting up your own entity pay back?

Rough rule: 10+ engineers per country for 3+ years. Set team size to 15 and engagement length to 36 months, and the entity bar overtakes the managed and EOR bars. Below that, the fixed entity overhead per engineer costs more than an EOR fee. Our EOR vs Entity calculator models the crossover in detail.

Estimate what an offshore engineering team in Asia really costs: salary, employer contributions, agency or EOR fees, equipment and management time, across four hiring models and against a US hire.

1. Your offshore team

Team country

Salary + statutory rate

Team size

Engineers in the team

Seniority mix

Sets the monthly rate

Engagement length

months

3 to 60 months

Team monthly, all-in

Engagement total

3-year total cost

Saved vs US in-house

Full team via Second Talent. Savings compare with US senior engineers at $14,500 a month.

Total engagement cost by model

Base salary Employer statutory Service fee / entity Equipment Tools Management + risk

Second Talent: managed

$0 total

Traditional EOR (Deel / Oyster-style)

$0 total

Direct contractor agreements

$0 total

Your own local entity

$0 total

Per-engineer monthly breakdown

Cost component	Second Talent	Traditional EOR	Contractor	Own entity
Base salary	$0	$0	$0	$0
Employer statutory	$0	$0	$0	$0
Service fee / entity overhead	$0	$0	$0	$0
Remote tools	$0	$0	$0	$0
Management overhead	$0	$0	$0	$0
All-in per-engineer monthly	$0	$0	$0	$0

Four engagement models, very different economics

Each model trades setup cost, monthly spend and legal exposure differently. The calculator shows which one is cheapest for your team size and timeline.

Second Talent: managed

Sourcing, vetting, employment, payroll and compliance under one rate of $29 to $39 an hour, billed monthly ($4,599 to $5,999 per engineer for 160 hours). No setup fee, no upfront cost, and a 90-day replacement guarantee. Best for 1 to 50 engineers across our nine Asian markets.

Traditional EOR (Deel / Oyster-style)

You find and vet the engineer yourself, then employ them through an Employer of Record platform. List fees ran $399 to $699 per employee per month on 13 October 2026 (Deel $599, Oyster $699), on top of salary. Recruiting sits outside that number, so the calculator adds an agency fee of about 20% of first-year salary per hire. Compare 20 providers in our EOR cost calculator.

Direct contractor agreements

Fastest to set up, but contractors charge about 15% more to cover their own benefits and taxes, and you carry misclassification risk in most countries. Works for short, scoped work; risky as a long-term team structure.

Your own local entity

A local subsidiary removes the per-employee EOR fee but costs $15k to $40k to set up and $2.5k to $4k a month in accounting, tax and compliance. It pays off at 10+ engineers in one country over 3+ years, not before.

Offshore hiring cost questions, answered

How much does offshore staffing cost?

Through Second Talent a full-time offshore engineer in Asia costs $29 to $39 an hour, billed monthly, or $4,599 to $5,999 a month for 160 hours, with salary, employer contributions, payroll and compliance included. The calculator compares that with an EOR, a contractor and your own entity, and with a US senior engineer at $14,500 a month fully loaded.

What fees do offshore staffing agencies charge?

Most agencies bill the engineer's pay plus a markup, commonly 35% to 65%, and many add a placement or setup fee. EOR platforms charge a flat fee instead, $399 to $699 per employee per month on their pricing pages in October 2026, but do not find the engineer for you. Second Talent quotes one hourly rate with $0 upfront fees. Ask any agency for the pay rate and the markup as separate lines.

Is offshore hiring cheaper than hiring in the US?

Usually by 50 to 70%. At the calculator's US baseline of $14,500 a month for a fully loaded senior engineer, a $4,599 to $5,999 offshore engineer saves roughly $8,500 to $9,900 a month per hire. Set your team size and engagement length above to see the total.

What are employer statutory contributions?

Mandatory employer-paid social insurance, pension and health contributions on top of gross salary. They are set by law and differ by country, from 6.5% in Hong Kong to 31% in China in this calculator. An offshore quote that leaves this line out understates the cost by 10% to 30%.

When does setting up your own entity pay back?

Rough rule: 10+ engineers per country for 3+ years. Set team size to 15 and engagement length to 36 months, and the entity bar overtakes the managed and EOR bars. Below that, the fixed entity overhead per engineer costs more than an EOR fee. Our EOR vs Entity calculator models the crossover in detail.

What is the risk with contractor agreements?

Most countries treat long-term, full-time contractors as employees for tax purposes. Misclassification penalties can include back taxes, social charges and fines. Contractors suit short, scoped work; they are not a safe structure for a permanent team.

Does the calculator include the cost of managing a remote team?

Yes. It adds 8% of salary for management overhead (manager time, coordination and tooling beyond the standard stack) on every model except Second Talent, where account management is included in the rate. For teams with little time-zone overlap, 10% to 12% is more realistic.