📈 Why I Hire Offshore Employees

People have conflicting opinions about hiring offshore.

“Can I really trust someone overseas to work and represent my company?”

I have significant experience with overseas employees and I’m happy to share.

How it all started

I first heard about small businesses hiring overseas employees through my partner, Aaron. He runs a landscaping business in Buffalo, NY and was considering hiring a remote office manager to handle appointment bookings, billing etc.

I looked into Virtual Assistants and after a lot of research, decided to hire a recruiting agency called Solvo. This company:

1. Finds talent in Colombia

2. Interviews them

3. Qualifies them for my needs

4. Sets up interviews with the applicant and myself

Not only that, Solvo has physical offices in Colombia where the employees work every day.

1st Hiring Experience

After conducting interviews with six applicants, I decided to hire an Executive Assistant as my first hire. Sofia would take work off my plate and help me out with whatever I needed

I hired Sofia in August 2022 and she remained with my company until she was relieved in June 2023. $2,050 / month was the price to employ Sofia. She received around $650 / month and the agency took the rest.

Sofia was a solid employee, but after a few months, I realized that she did not have the critical thinking skills required to excel at her job and grow within the company. There was a lot of hand holding that sometimes added to my workload, instead of reducing it.

At $2,050 / month it was no longer worth it.

2nd Hiring Experience

The next role I needed to fill was for an HR Manager. My company, Greenbox Storage, tripled in size from 2022 to 2023 and I needed someone to manage all the employees.

I went with a different company this time. Support Shepherd recruits talent in the Philippines and they have a different business model. Instead of charging monthly and having a local office building, they charge an upfront fee (35% of the employee’s annual salary).

I hired John as my second full-time employee. John earned $6.41 / hour ($1,025 / month) and was a great employee. We employed John for about 8 months, then decided to move on.

3rd Hiring Experience

My company, Greenbox Storage was growing fast and our number of customers increasing dramatically. We needed to hire someone to help our customer support.

After interviewing four applicants, Eliza was the obvious option. I knew after the first interview with her that she would be our best choice. She has flawless English, incredible patience, and has proven to be super reliable.

Eliza started off earning $6.41 / hour, then was promoted to Customer Support Team Lead when we hired an additional Customer Support rep. She was given a raise to $7 / hour.

After working at Greenbox for six months, she and her fiance purchased their first vehicle. IN CASH. $6.41 / hour is a lot of money in the Philippines!

Six months later, they closed on a home and have since moved in.

Eliza is my longest tenured employee and I anticipate her growing within the company for the foreseeable future.

Other Offshore Hires

I’ve also hired the following:

• Marketing Manager: Philippines

• Campus Supervisor: Mexico

• Chief of Staff: Philippines

• 3x Software Developer: Pakistan

• Customer Support Rep: Philippines

• Remote Sales Rep: Philippines

• Bookkeeper: Pakistan

Benefits to hiring overseas

Financial

It’s extremely affordable to hire overseas! You can provide overseas employees a great wage while saving your company money (and avoiding payroll taxes).

Reliable

In my experience, reliability is difficult to come by. It seems as if the work culture in the United States has deteriorated. Quiet quitting is a big thing.

Quiet quitting doesn’t exist in the Philippines.

They have a “whatever it takes” mentality

I employe some of the hardest workers I know. They have no problem working overtime during busy seasons and have never complained!

They truly are A employees.

If you’re looking to hire overseas, I highly recommend it. Do your research, find the right employees, and set them up to be successful!

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

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Cheers,

Collin Rutherford

PS. Rough day for Morgan.