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Companies offshoring to the Philippines can save up to 70% against an equivalent US hire, depending on the role and seniority. The figure that applies to your team comes from comparing fully loaded cost on both sides, because a salary-only comparison hides benefits in the US and statutory costs in the Philippines.
This guide breaks down both cost sides, compares four common roles, and shows where savings shrink.
What a US hire really costs
A US hire costs well above their salary, because benefits and legally required costs sit on top of wages. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employer compensation for civilian workers averaged $49.46 per hour in June 2026. Wages made up $33.85 of that figure and benefits made up $15.61.
Many offshore comparisons start from a US salary alone. For full-time private industry workers, benefits account for 31.5% of total compensation, so a salary understates what the employer actually pays.
What a Philippine hire costs beyond salary
A Philippine hire costs salary plus three more layers: statutory employer costs, equipment and workspace, and a provider or management fee. Each layer belongs in the comparison.
- Salary: The gross monthly pay for the role, which varies by seniority and specialization.
- Statutory employer costs: Philippine law requires 13th month pay equal to one-twelfth of annual basic salary, due by December 24, plus employer contributions to SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG. Budget about 8.33% on top of annual base salary for 13th month pay. Contribution rates and ceilings change, so check current schedules before you budget, and see our guide on how to hire remote workers in the Philippines for the compliance points.
- Equipment and workspace: Each seat needs a laptop, software licenses, secure connectivity, and a workspace or a home-office allowance.
- Provider or management fee: An employer of record or managed provider charges to handle payroll, compliance, and HR, and often recruitment and facilities as well.
Counting all four layers lowers the headline saving. It also makes the number defensible when a finance team reviews it.
Role-by-role savings from offshoring to the Philippines
Customer service shows the widest gap in this comparison, with savings of roughly 67% to 89% against a fully loaded US hire. Estimated all-in monthly costs for four common roles put the Philippine side between $600 and $3,700 a month and the US side between $4,200 and $14,000, depending on the role.
| Role | Philippines Monthly Estimate | US Monthly Estimate | Likely Saving Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Service Representative | $600–$1,400 | $4,200–$5,500 | 67–89% |
| Finance and Accounting Analyst | $1,600–$3,200 | $6,500–$8,500 | 51–81% |
| Mid-Level Full-Stack Developer | $2,300–$3,700 | $10,500–$14,000 | 65–84% |
| HR Generalist | $1,200–$2,500 | $5,200–$6,800 | 52–82% |
The Philippine figures cover salary, statutory costs, and an infrastructure allowance, and they leave out the provider fee. The US figures are fully loaded employer costs. The low end of each saving range pairs the highest Philippine cost with the lowest US cost, and the high end does the reverse, so your own figure lands somewhere inside the range.
Customer support and accounting and finance work share a trait: the process is easy to document and the output is easy to measure. Offshoring tends to deliver when both of those are true.
What a fixed monthly rate covers at KDCI
At KDCI, one fixed monthly rate per seat under the offshore staffing model covers salary, statutory benefits, equipment, workspace, recruitment, security, and management. There is no separate placement fee or equipment charge. The rate also includes a dedicated Client Services Manager, so oversight is not billed on top.
Paid software and tool licenses are the main item that sits outside the rate, along with overtime:
- Software and tool licenses: KDCI invoices them, or you provide your own credentials.
- Overtime: It is pre-approved in advance and billed at the person's hourly rate.
Rates start as estimates based on your initial inquiry, and a proposal with precise pricing follows once KDCI has a detailed job description. The team builder lets you choose roles, experience, and team size to see an estimate before you share contact details.
When the savings shrink
Savings shrink when supervision, scope, or hours do not fit the model. Supervision comes first, because whether an offshore seat holds up depends on who reviews the work every day.
- Nobody to supervise: Plan for three to five hours a week of real supervision in the first two months of a single remote hire. Remote teams fail from slow feedback long before they fail on skill.
- Work under 10 hours a week: A project-based vendor is a better fit than a full-time seat.
- A process that lives in one person's head: Write it down before the seat starts, or the time you save gets spent explaining.
- US business hours: US Eastern hours fall on a Philippine night shift, which carries a statutory night differential. Include it in the comparison.
- Specialist depth or all-day overlap: KDCI's own comparison points to Latin America for all-day real-time overlap with US teams, and to India or Eastern Europe for deep specialist engineering.
Offshoring pays when the work is steady, documented, and reviewed every week. When those conditions are missing, a different model fits better, and KDCI says so on a scoping call.
How to run your own comparison
Run the comparison with fully loaded monthly cost for the same role on both sides, in five steps:
- Price the in-house role at total compensation: wages, benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, and the recruiting cost to fill it.
- Add the Philippine layers: salary, 13th month pay at about 8.33% of base, statutory contributions, equipment, and workspace.
- Add the provider fee, or ask for a quote that bundles every layer into one monthly rate.
- Add the management time you will spend, using three to five hours a week in the first two months as a starting point.
- Compare the two monthly totals, then check the gap against the role ranges above.
A scoping call turns steps two and three into a written role spec and an estimated monthly price, and the page on how KDCI scopes and builds a team lays out each stage.
Compare your current hire against a fixed monthly seat rate, and see which engagement model fits the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is outsourcing to the Philippines cheaper than India or Latin America?
KDCI's qualitative comparison places the Philippines and India in a similar low-to-mid cost band and Latin America in the mid band. Latin America's higher rates are often offset by real-time overlap with US hours. That comparison reflects KDCI's experience and is not a benchmark study.
What should a provider's quoted monthly rate include?
It should state whether salary, statutory benefits, equipment, workspace, recruitment, and day-to-day management sit inside the rate. Ask what falls outside it, such as software licenses and overtime. At KDCI, the fixed monthly seat rate covers the person and a dedicated Client Services Manager, with tool licenses and pre-approved overtime billed separately.
Is offshoring worth it for a single hire?
It can be when someone on your side has the time to supervise the work each week. Individual specialists cost about the same per seat as each seat is added, while dedicated teams price lower per seat because the team lead, onboarding, and know-how are shared.