How long does hiring take?
Typically one to two weeks from the signed brief to an accepted candidate. The start date is agreed at offer stage and depends on the candidate's notice period with their current employer.
Published 13 September 2026 by Offshored. The model explained step by step, with who does what and what it costs.
Offshore staffing is hiring a full-time, dedicated team member who lives in another country, usually the Philippines, and works only for your business, in your systems and during your hours, while a local staffing partner recruits, employs and supports them.
This guide explains the model in plain English: how it works step by step, who employs your team member, what you look after and what Offshored looks after, and what it costs.
In practice, offshore staffing works like a normal hire with the employment paperwork handled for you. You choose the person, set their hours and priorities, and bring them into your team. The staffing partner employs them in the Philippines, runs payroll and government contributions, provides HR support and steps in when something needs sorting out.
Offshored uses the dedicated offshore staffing model: the client chooses the person, that person works only for the client's business in the client's systems and hours, and Offshored handles recruitment, onboarding, payroll and day to day HR, with each team member employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company.
Outsourcing is different. With outsourcing you buy a task or an outcome from a provider, the provider decides which of its people do the work and how, and those people usually serve several clients at once. Offshore staffing gives you one named person, working only for you, whom you manage directly. Our comparison of offshoring, outsourcing and virtual assistants goes into the differences in detail, and the glossary defines the terms.
From a signed brief to an accepted candidate typically takes one to two weeks. Here is what happens at each stage and who does what.
Tell us what you need done: the tasks, the software, who the person reports to and the hours you want covered. Most first roles are administration, bookkeeping, customer support or sales support, and our roles hub lists 32 roles with monthly cost bands if you want to see what is typical. We turn that conversation into a written brief with a salary band, and you sign it off. There is no fee at this stage, or at any stage before you choose a person. Start with the enquiry form or book a call.
Offshored's Manila recruitment team advertises the role and searches our existing talent pool. Every candidate has a pre-screening interview with Offshored before we endorse them to you, and every hire completes an NBI clearance, the Philippine national police check. You receive a shortlist with candidate profiles, typically within one to two weeks of the signed brief.
You interview the shortlisted candidates by video call at times that suit you. Ask for a skills test, a second interview or a different mix of candidates if you want; nothing is decided until you say so. When you choose someone, you sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Offshored and the monthly fee starts from the agreed start date. Until then the service is free.
Australian Pathways OPC, Offshored's Philippine employing entity, issues the employment contract. It includes a confidentiality clause and an intellectual property assignment clause, so the work product belongs to your business. The start date depends on the candidate's notice period and is agreed at offer stage.
Office based team members work on company supplied laptops with USB ports and personal cloud drives blocked. Home based team members usually supply their own hardware, and Offshored supplies laptops to home based staff where needed. Your team member connects through a VPN or directly through your own systems, depending on your IT setup, and you set up their access to the software they will use, the same way you would for a new starter in your office. Our data security information covers the controls in full.
You direct the work exactly as you would with a local hire: daily priorities, tools, standards, meetings and feedback. Offshored runs payroll, government contributions, leave, HR and performance support in the background, and your named Offshored account manager is your first call if anything needs attention. You receive one invoice a month.
Check in formally at the end of probation and then at regular reviews, with your account manager involved when that helps; salaries are reviewed annually. Most clients add a second role once the first has settled, and because there are no lock-in contracts you scale up or down as the business needs. When a team member leaves, for any reason, all of their logins to your systems are removed on their last day.
| Stage | Typical time | Who does it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Scope the role | One conversation, day one | You describe the role, Offshored writes the brief |
| 2. Recruit and shortlist | One to two weeks from the signed brief | Offshored |
| 3. Interview and choose | A few days | You |
| 4. Onboarding and equipment | Agreed at offer, subject to notice period | Offshored and Australian Pathways OPC, with system access from you |
| 5. Day-to-day management | Ongoing | You direct the work, Offshored handles employment |
| 6. Reviews and growth | End of probation, then regular reviews | You, with your account manager |
Your team member is employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company and Offshored's employing entity. Offshored Pty Ltd, the Australian company you contract with, recruits and manages them. You engage a staffing service rather than employing an overseas worker, so you do not need a Philippine entity, a foreign payroll or a local HR function.
Offshored recruits and manages each team member, who is employed by Australian Pathways OPC and works full-time for one Australian client during Australian business hours, from home or from Offshored's BGC Manila office as agreed; the client directs their day-to-day work as they would a local hire, and a shortlist is typically ready within one to two weeks.
Most Offshored team members work from home, and Offshored prefers it that way: it opens the talent pool beyond commuting distance of one office, and it suits people who report directly to their client in any case. Some work hybrid, and some are based in Offshored's office at Suite 706, HSS Corporate Building, BGC, Manila, depending on the role and the client's requirements. Whichever arrangement you choose, the person works only for your business.
| You | Offshored |
|---|---|
| Describe the role and sign off the brief | Write the brief and set the salary band |
| Interview the shortlist and choose the person | Advertise, source, pre-screen, run the NBI clearance and present the shortlist |
| Provide system access, training and daily direction | Issue the employment contract through Australian Pathways OPC, onboard the team member and supply equipment where agreed |
| Set hours, priorities and standards, and give feedback | Pay salary, 13th month pay, SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions, HMO cover after probation, payroll and tax withholding |
| Pay one monthly invoice | Provide HR support, leave management, performance support and a named account manager |
| Tell your account manager early if something is not working | Work through issues with you, recruit a replacement at Offshored's cost where needed, and remove all logins on a team member's last day |
Manila is two hours behind Sydney during Australian Eastern Standard Time and three hours behind during daylight saving, and it shares Perth's time zone all year. Offshored team members work Australian business hours for your state, so a 9am start in Sydney is a 7am start in Manila (6am in summer), and your team member is online when your customers and colleagues are. Communication runs through whatever your team already uses: Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, phone, email or WhatsApp. English is an official language of the Philippines and the language of business and university education there, so day-to-day communication is in English.
Dedicated offshore staff through Offshored cost from A$1,900 per month for administration and support roles, with bookkeeping, accounts and sales support roles in the A$2,100 to A$2,800 band and specialist roles above that. The monthly fee is the only charge you pay. It covers the team member's salary, 13th month pay, SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions, HMO health cover after the six month probation, payroll and tax withholding, Offshored's recruitment and management, and office space and equipment for office based staff. There are no recruitment, placement or setup fees and no lock-in contract. For the full breakdown, including a like-for-like comparison with hiring the same role in Sydney, read our offshore staff cost guide or use the calculator on our pricing page.
The model suits businesses with 5 to 50 people best. At that size the owner or a senior manager is still doing work that a dedicated administrator, bookkeeper or coordinator should be doing, but a full-time local hire at Sydney rates is hard to justify and a part-timer never quite covers the load. One dedicated offshore team member takes that work off your desk at a monthly cost that fits a small business budget.
Most Offshored clients start with one person. The first role is usually administration, bookkeeping, customer support or sales support, and it gets a fair run of about three months before the business decides what comes next. The second role tends to follow once the first has proven itself. Because there are no setup fees and no lock-in, the cost of finding out whether the model works for you is one month's fee. Offshored supports 18+ Australian businesses this way, from plumbing and construction to architecture, accounting and care providers.
Offshored team members are university-educated professionals paid a competitive Manila salary with full statutory benefits, 13th month pay and HMO health cover. The saving, which can be up to 70% against Australian labour costs, comes from the difference in the cost of living between Manila and Sydney, not from paying people badly. Clients who do this well treat it as a smart way to add capability, not a way to buy cheap hours.
You choose the person, from a shortlist that has already been interviewed by Offshored and cleared by the NBI, and that person works only for you. Quality comes from the same things it comes from locally: a clear role, a good hire, proper onboarding and regular feedback. Offshored's 5.0 Google rating is from Australian clients who have done exactly that.
You keep it. Your team member works in your systems, in your hours, on the priorities you set, and reports to you. The employment contract includes confidentiality and intellectual property clauses, company supplied devices have USB ports and personal cloud drives blocked, access runs through a VPN or your own systems, and every login is removed on the person's last day. What you hand off is the employment administration, not the management.
Typically one to two weeks from the signed brief to an accepted candidate. The start date is agreed at offer stage and depends on the candidate's notice period with their current employer.
Yes. You interview every shortlisted candidate by video call and choose who joins your team. Nothing is committed until you sign the MOU, and until then the service is free.
Tell your Offshored account manager as early as you can. We work through the issue with you and the team member, and if the fit is wrong we recruit a replacement for the role at Offshored's cost. There is no minimum term and no lock-in contract, and the arrangement can be ended with 30 days' notice, so you are never tied to something that is not working.
No. Your team member is employed by Australian Pathways OPC, Offshored's registered Philippine company. You contract with Offshored Pty Ltd, an Australian company, and pay one Australian invoice each month.
More questions? The full FAQ covers legality, data security, time zones, working hours, qualifications and performance management.
Offshored was founded in Sydney in 2023 and today supports 18+ Australian clients with a team of 50+ in the Philippines. Meet the founders.
Tell us the role you would hand off first and we will come back with a brief, a salary band and a realistic start date. We reply within one business hour, 8am to 6pm AEST, Monday to Friday.
Talk to us about your first role Use the enquiry formPrefer to email or call? connect@offshored.net or +61 437 228 350.