How Much Does Offshore Staffing Cost in Australia? (2026 Guide)
The full cost of offshore hiring: salary, statutory contributions, 13th month pay, EOR fee, and a comparison with local Australian rates.
If you’re an Australian business owner researching offshore staffing, the first question you’re asking is the right one: what’s it actually going to cost me?
The honest answer is that it depends on the role, the seniority, and how you structure the employment. But the components are consistent enough that we can give you a clear framework — and a calculator to get your specific numbers in under a minute.
Here’s what you need to understand before you speak to anyone.
The four components of offshore staffing cost
Hiring a Filipino professional through an ethical, compliant structure involves four cost categories. Understanding each one separately is how you avoid surprises.
1. Base salary
This is what the professional actually takes home. Salaries vary significantly by role, seniority, and the specific skills required. Rather than publish figures that go out of date, we’ve built a calculator that reflects current market rates — use it to model the specific role you have in mind.
What we can tell you: the salary for a dedicated, experienced Filipino professional is substantially less than an equivalent local hire in Australia. That gap is real, it’s consistent, and it compounds over time.
2. Statutory employer contributions
Philippine law requires employers to contribute to three government funds on behalf of every employee. These are non-negotiable for compliant employment and are the main thing that trips up Australian businesses trying to hire directly.
- SSS (Social Security System): Bracket-based contribution structure capped at the current Monthly Salary Credit maximum
- PhilHealth: Premium split equally between employer and employee, with a salary floor and ceiling
- Pag-IBIG: Employer contribution capped at a monthly salary base maximum
Combined, these add a meaningful but calculable amount on top of base salary. Our calculator handles all three accurately, including the current caps and rates.
3. Mandatory benefits
Beyond contributions, Philippine law requires:
- 13th month pay: One additional month’s salary, paid in December. Our calculator provisions this monthly so it doesn’t hit as a lump sum at year end
- Leave entitlements: A minimum of five days Service Incentive Leave per year. Most ethical employers offer more — we factor standard leave into the cost model
4. Employer of Record fee
Unless you have a registered Philippine entity — which most Australian SMEs don’t and shouldn’t bother setting up — you need an EOR to handle compliant employment. The EOR becomes the legal employer in the Philippines, manages payroll, contributions, and HR compliance, and invoices you a single monthly fee.
Our EOR fee is a flat AUD $300 per employee per month. No setup fees. No hidden charges. That covers employment contracts, payroll processing, statutory contributions, and HR administration.
What does a total offshore hire actually cost?
The total depends on the salary for your specific role. Our Philippines EOR cost calculator gives you a complete monthly breakdown — SSS, PhilHealth, Pag-IBIG, 13th month, leave provision, and the $300 EOR fee — in both AUD and PHP.
Run the numbers for your role before your first conversation with any provider. It takes less than a minute and gives you a solid basis for comparison.
What’s not included in the calculator
Recruitment. Finding the right person takes genuine expertise. We charge a one-off AUD $2,000 placement fee per hire, which covers sourcing, vetting, and shortlisting. You interview the top 2–3 candidates and make the final decision.
Equipment and software. Your offshore team member needs a reliable computer, monitor, and internet connection. Some clients provide equipment directly, others pay a monthly allowance. We’ll advise on the most practical approach for your situation during onboarding.
Your time. An offshore hire still requires onboarding, communication structure, and active management from your side — particularly in the first 30–60 days. That investment pays back significantly, but it isn’t zero.
Direct hire vs EOR: what’s the difference in cost?
Some businesses consider hiring directly — finding a Filipino professional on a platform like OnlineJobs.ph and paying them as a contractor. It looks cheaper on paper. It often isn’t, for three reasons.
Misclassification risk. If the working relationship functions like employment — regular hours, direction and control, exclusivity — Philippine labour law may treat it as employment regardless of how the contract is worded. Exposure to back-pay of statutory contributions, penalties, and disputes.
No HR infrastructure. When something goes wrong — and at some point, something always does — you’re handling it alone without local knowledge, legal standing, or support.
Currency and payment friction. International wire transfers, exchange rate exposure, and payment delays add operational overhead most founders underestimate until they’re in it.
Our EOR fee is the cost of doing this properly. For most businesses, it’s the most efficient risk management spend in their offshore setup.
How offshore staffing costs compare to local hiring
We deliberately don’t publish a “you’ll save X%” figure because it depends entirely on the role, location, and how you’d hire locally. What we will say:
For most Australian businesses hiring their first offshore professional, the total cost through an EOR — salary, contributions, benefits, and our fee — is materially less than the equivalent local hire. Not marginally. Materially.
Run the calculator. Then look at what you’d pay a local equivalent including super, leave loading, workers compensation, and the time cost of a local recruitment process. The comparison usually answers the question.
Ready to discuss your specific situation?
If you’ve run the numbers and want to talk through what an offshore hire would actually look like for your business — roles, timelines, compliance, and what the first 90 days involves — book a 30-minute call with our team.
No obligation. We’ll tell you honestly whether offshore staffing makes sense for where your business is right now.
For a concrete example of how these numbers play out in practice, read how Gunther Consulting built their data analysis function through offshore staffing.
Team Up Now is an Australian offshore staffing agency placing dedicated Filipino professionals with Australian businesses. We are based in South Melbourne and operate as employer of record in the Philippines.
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