A detailed guide to offshore recruitment

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An offshore team – one that works for you but in another country – can give businesses access to skilled talent at an affordable cost and reduce their operating costs.

But offshore recruitment can be challenging without a thorough understanding of the local employment market.

In this article, we’ll discuss what offshore recruitment means and the benefits of having an offshore team. We’ll also share the 10 top offshore recruitment agencies for quicker and more efficient hiring.

Table of Contents

• What is offshore recruitment?
• 4 top benefits of offshore recruitment
• 10 best offshore recruitment agencies
• Best practices when recruiting offshore

Let’s get started.

What is offshore recruitment?

Offshore recruitment refers to the process where companies hire local talent for their operations in a foreign country. To understand it better, let’s consider why and how companies offshore.

The biggest draw for a company when choosing an offshore location is the abundance of skilled and affordable labor. They may also consider factors like political stability, favorable trade laws and tax structures, and the business climate.

Once they finalize an offshore location, they typically have two options:

• Delegate work to a third-party outsourcing firm in the country (also known as offshore outsourcing). In this approach, the third-party firm takes over most tasks, including talent acquisition, but leaves the parent company with lesser control over the business functions and human capital.
• Set up a captive center and hire an in-house team. A captive center is a business unit functioning in an offshore location and fully controlled by the parent company. In this approach, the company may choose to hire an in-house team, either directly or through a recruitment agency. 

Find out how offshoring is different from outsourcing in this post.

4 top benefits of offshore recruitment

Here are four ways offshore recruitment can help boost your business growth:

1. Cost savings

Popular offshore destinations, such as India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, etc., have one thing in common – they all have lower average wages and cost of living than developed economies.

For example, the average salaries in India and the Philippines are around USD 428 and USD 854, respectively. In contrast, the average salary in the USA and the UK (United Kingdom) is a lot higher at USD 7,900 and USD 7,732, respectively.

Companies can also save up significantly through tax benefits and other financial incentives offered by the local government.

2. Access to skilled workers

Major offshore locations typically have high availability of skilled labor. They also have no shortage of professionals proficient in English and other in-demand skills.

For example, Ukraine has a huge talent pool of over 280,000 IT specialists. Similarly, Taiwan’s thriving semiconductor manufacturing sector has 290,000+ active employees in 2022. 

And due to the affordable labor rates, companies usually bulk-hire in these locations, which further strengthens the local job market and education system. 

Besides, the outsourcing-focused business ecosystem ensures that companies get access to specialized services and infrastructure.

This makes offshoring a lucrative option for companies from developed economies where it’s challenging to achieve this price/quantity/quality ratio.

3. Business continuity

Offshore recruitment helps companies operate in different time zones, facilitating continuous operations.

For example, an American company can have its onshore employees hand over the work to its offshore team in Asia after a 12-hour shift, ensuring 24/7 operations.

This can be especially beneficial for customer service businesses in ensuring a better experience. It can also help expand their customer base outside of the home country. 

Many global companies, such as CISCO and Microsoft, offshore their technical support and customer service operations to India. The 12.5 hours time difference between India and America (Pacific Time) helps US-based companies run their operations round the clock. 

Similarly, an IT company can delegate maintenance and admin jobs to its overseas team after its onshore team signs off for the day.

4. Financial incentives and favorable laws

Governments in popular offshoring locations typically offer financial incentives to attract foreign investment. These incentives may include:

• Tax rebates.
• Financial grants and operational support through flagship schemes.
• Access to specialized zones offering cutting-edge infrastructure at affordable prices.

For example, the Philippine government offers an income tax holiday of 4 to 7 years to foreign companies registered with PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority).

Moreover, these offshore locations usually have liberal employment laws, giving companies greater flexibility and control over how they hire and manage their employees.

10 best offshore recruitment agencies

Here are 10 top global recruitment agencies that you can engage for building a solid offshore team:

1. NES Fircroft

NES Fircroft is a UK-based recruitment process outsourcing company with 100+ offices in 45 countries, including Mexico and the Philippines. The company can help you hire contractual or full-time employees globally in sectors like:

• Oil and gas.
• Renewable and alternative energy.
• Life science.
• Construction and mining.
• Automotive.
• Technology and manufacturing.
• Information Technology.

With over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, NES Fircroft specializes in hiring support for the sector. It’s a great option if you want to recruit engineers or skilled workers for your offshore oil rig operations.

The firm also offers talent management solutions like compliance management, workforce mobilization, upskilling, etc.

2. Brunel

Brunel is a company that provides global recruitment and workforce services for industry sectors like oil and gas, energy, infrastructure, mining, etc. It’s headquartered in the Netherlands and has offices in 40+ countries, including offshoring hubs like India and Poland.

Besides offshore recruitment, Brunel also offers logistics and technical services to its clients. Some key services offered by Brunel include:

• Talent sourcing and screening.
• Permanent and contractual recruitment.
• Industry-specific training.
• Contracting and secondment (temporarily detaching an employee from their regular job and assigning them to a new employer).
• Compliance adherence and training related to health, safety, and environment.
• Project management support.
• Visas, work permits, and relocation support.

3. Alliance Recruitment Agency

Alliance Recruitment Agency is a staffing solution based in India with a presence in 25+ countries spanning North America, the Middle East, and Europe. It offers hiring services in popular offshoring destinations like Mexico and Dubai.

The company offers recruitment solutions for diverse industry sectors like IT, engineering, retail, logistics, aviation, etc.

With a solid track record of 12000+ fulfilled recruitment projects for 8000+ global clients, Alliance Recruitment Agency offers a host of services, including:

• Recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services.
• Contract staffing.
• Training services.
• Virtual assistant services.
• Virtual bookkeeping services.
• HR advisory solutions.

4. Select Offshore

Select Offshore is an offshore recruitment company that offers personalized services in offshore industries (oil and gas, energy, subsea, etc.).

Established in 1980, the UK-based firm has a network of 1000+ contractors, enabling them to source high-quality talent through referrals. This includes specialized hiring for engineering or technician roles.

Besides, Select Offshore has a massive database of 100,000+ candidates, helping them source the suitable candidates at the earliest.

Their offshore recruitment team is divided into specialized groups of consultants, each catering to a specific area in the offshore industry.

To hire the best talent, the recruitment team at Select Offshore follows a time-tested recruitment strategy that involves processes and services, such as:

• Sending out a thorough job description.
• Comprehensive advertising support through diverse channels like a job board, social media, national media, etc.
• Visiting client offices to understand their ethos and culture.
• Creating a 10-point plan for selection criteria.
• Interviewing candidates and negotiating offers with shortlisted candidates.
• Providing up-to-date legal advice to the client for contract hiring.
• Regular post-hiring follow-ups.

5. Adecco

Adecco is a leading workforce solutions company headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland.

The company has an extensive global presence (60+ countries) and can help you hire a team in major offshore destinations like India, China, Mexico, Chile, Israel, etc.

The Adecco group encompasses brands like LHH Recruitment Solutions, Hired.com, General Assembly, etc.

The company offers services for sectors like:

• Information technology.
• Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), and fintech.
• Engineering.
• Pharma and life sciences, etc.

Their diverse range of services includes:

• Staff planning and recruitment (general and professional).
• Managed Service Program (MSP) to take up all HR functions.
• Payroll and reimbursement processing.
• Talent development, reskilling, redeployment services.
• Relocation services.
• Audit services like ‘Shelf Space Data Collection’, mystery shopping, customer surveys, etc.

6. Tribe Consulting

Tribe Consulting is a Business Process Management (BPM) company that offers cost-effective offshore recruitment services to its clients. It can help you hire a team in top offshoring locations like the Philippines and Dubai.

The company has its headquarters in Karachi, Pakistan, and offers its services in the USA, the UAE, and the Philippines. Some of its recruitment services include:

• Conducting thorough research to source suitable candidates for your needs.
• Engaging the talent through multiple communication channels.
• Taking online interviews, negotiating salaries, and location preferences.
• Virtual office assistants for data entry, email management, research, appointment handling, etc.
• Customized solutions for inbound and outbound call centers.

Tribe Consulting also offers infrastructure solutions where it helps its clients procure and deploy hardware, software, and networking products from globally recognized suppliers.

7. People Strong

People Strong is a talent acquisition and management firm based in Gurugram, India. 

It serves 500+ enterprises across India, the Philippines, Singapore, etc., through AI-powered solutions like Human Capital Management (HCM), Payroll and Workforce Management, etc.

These enterprises are part of diverse industry domains like:

• Banking and financial services.
• Manufacturing.
• IT and IT-enabled services.
• Retail.
• Pharma and healthcare.

Businesses can use People Strong’s SaaS solutions to avail recruitment and other related services to:

• Build a candidate pipeline by integrating your job post with 350+ job boards, social media platforms, and internal portals.
• Evaluate a potential candidate through assessment modules.
• Source the right talent quickly through resume-parsing and AI-based candidate mapping.
• Get intelligent skill recommendations.
• Develop compliant payroll workflows.
• Get a unified view of your workforce across systems, departments, and workflows.

8. Kelly Services

Kelly Services is an online staffing company headquartered in Michigan, United States. 

It serves 90 of the Fortune 100 companies and has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). The firm can help you hire in offshoring hubs like India, Poland, and Mexico.

The company offers specialized solutions like Kelly Technology, Kelly Professional and Industrial, Kelly Engineering, etc., to meet your recruitment needs for an offshore project. 

The recruiting teams at each of these solutions have expertise in the relevant domain, ensuring that they source the right talent for the client’s needs. For example, 80% of the recruiters at Kelly Engineering have an engineering background.

The offshore recruiting team at Kelly Services can help you with:

• Sourcing the best talent through their comprehensive talent database. For example, Kelly Technology has a database of 26,500+ IT and data science master’s and bachelor’s candidates.
• Efficient screening processes to shortlist the right candidate.
• Temporary and contract staffing for short-term projects.
• On-site management of your workforce through customized solutions.

9. Airswift

Airswift is a global recruitment firm and workforce solutions provider based in Houston, USA. The company has over 7000 employees working across 70+ offices across the world, including Dubai, Malaysia, and Brazil.

It has over 40 years experience providing workforce solutions to STEM industries and has, such as:

• Oil and gas.
• Mining and Construction. 
• Power and renewable energy.

Airswift’s team of recruitment consultants can help you:

• Source full-time and contract hires for your specific needs.
• Interview applicants and assess their skills. 
• Simplify overseas hiring through its Employee of Record (EOR) services. 
• Stay compliant during workforce mobilization and immigration.
• Ensure human capital due diligence during mergers and acquisitions.

10. Collabera

Collabera is a digital engineering and technology company that offers staffing and recruitment consulting services.  

The company’s North American headquarters is in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, while the Asia Pacific headquarters is in Vadodara, India. The company has 60+ offices globally and a pool of 500,000+ active candidate profiles.

Here are some of the Colaberra services that can help you hire a top-notch team in an offshore location:

• Sourcing skilled digital and engineering talent globally through talent communities, industry connections, and strong referral programs.
• Training and deploying an agile and future-proof workforce to meet a company’s digital transformation goals.
• Building programs tailored to meet a client’s specific talent goals.

Here are 10 inspiring offshoring examples. Also, here is a comprehensive review of the leading offshore recruitment agencies.

Best practices when recruiting offshore

Businesses can ensure a smooth and efficient offshore recruitment by following simple best practices:

• Thoroughly analyze your staffing needs and budget before you post a job vacancy or engage an offshore recruitment agency.
• Create a detailed job description to set the right expectations.
• Ensure that you stay updated on regional laws related to employment, taxes, data, and IP protection, even if you are hiring through an external recruiter.
• Have an onboarding strategy that helps your new employees understand your business ethos and work culture.
• Educate your onshore employees on cultural sensitivity and inclusion through workplace diversity training.
• Before you form an offshore partnership, engage an expert to make legal provisions to safeguard your business interests. For example, you can have your offshore staff and offshore recruiter sign a non-disclosure agreement.
• Empower your offshore team with the right tools to help them grow and stay productive.

For example, using an advanced software tool like Time Doctor is a great way to ensure that your offshore and onshore employees stay productive.

What’s Time Doctor?

It’s an employee productivity management tool suitable for large organizations and small businesses alike. 

Its time tracking and reporting features will help you get valuable insight into your team’s efficiency.

Moreover, it has several additional features like scheduling and payroll to streamline business functions and keep your teams performing at their peak.

Wrapping up

Offshoring is a commonly used strategy by businesses looking to expand and scale their operations. Use the information shared above to find out ways offshoring can benefit your business.

However, hiring employees in a foreign location could be challenging. Evaluate the offshore staffing firms mentioned above based on their expertise and offered services to make an informed decision. 

Having a reliable offshore partner for your recruitment needs will help you build a high-performing team and enhance your overall offshore experience.