What a dedicated offshore team member really costs an Australian business in 2026, and how to check the number yourself
Most Australian business owners who look at offshore staffing have been told a saving figure by somebody with something to sell. The figure is usually a round number, it rarely comes with a method, and it almost never shows the local salary it was compared against. This article sets out the method Offshored uses to publish its own cost comparison, so that any owner can check the number against a live Australian salary source rather than take anyone's word for it, including ours.
What does a dedicated offshore team member cost an Australian business?
Offshored's pricing starts from A$1,900 per month for a full time dedicated team member in the Philippines, and the published comparison with a Sydney hire is a median of 67 percent across fourteen roles at Seek's advertised Sydney salary plus 12 percent superannuation, range 59 to 76 percent (Offshored cost benchmark, offshored.net/offshore-staffing-cost-benchmark, September 2026). Every input is public: Seek's advertised salary, the superannuation rate and the Offshored fee.
Two things matter about that sentence. It is a median and a range, not a single headline, and the benchmark page lists every role so a reader can find their own. And every input can be checked in an afternoon.
Start with the Australian number, not the offshore one
A saving only means something against a real local cost. The honest comparison is the advertised salary for the same role in the same city, plus the employer on-costs that sit on top of that salary. In Australia the first of those on-costs is superannuation, which is paid by the employer in addition to the advertised wage.
Offshored's published comparison uses Seek's advertised salary for each role in Sydney, adds 12 percent superannuation, and compares that total with the Offshored monthly fee for the same role. The result is a median of 67 percent across fourteen roles at Seek's advertised Sydney salary plus 12 percent superannuation, range 59 to 76 percent (Offshored cost benchmark, offshored.net/offshore-staffing-cost-benchmark, September 2026). The same page gives a national view: 68.2 percent across ten roles at Seek's national advertised salary with 15.05 percent on-costs, range 60.5 to 74.4 percent (same page, national view section, September 2026).
Some roles save less, some save more, and the page lists every role. Seek publishes the salary. The superannuation rate is set by law. The Offshored fee is on the pricing page. Anyone can rebuild the comparison.
What is inside the monthly fee
The reason the comparison holds up is that the Offshored fee is the whole cost of the team member, not a base rate with extras added later. According to Offshored's cost guide (offshored.net/offshore-staff-cost, read 29 October 2026), the monthly fee covers the team member's salary, 13th month pay, SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG contributions, HMO health cover (which begins after the six month probation), payroll and tax withholding, and office space and equipment for office based staff. There are no recruitment, placement or setup fees, and there is no lock-in contract. The monthly fee is the only charge the client pays apart from a late payment fee.
That matters for the comparison because the Australian side of the ledger is also a full cost. Comparing a full offshore cost with a full local cost is the only comparison that tells an owner anything useful.
Where the fee starts
Offshored's pricing starts from A$1,900 per month for a full time dedicated team member (offshored.net/pricing, read 29 October 2026). Published tiers rise with the seniority and technical depth of the role, from administration and support at the entry tier, through bookkeeping, accounts payable and receivable, payroll and executive assistant roles, to accountants, drafters, estimators and designers, and then financial controllers and software developers at the top tier. The pricing page lists the band for each role group so an owner can see the band for their role before they make an enquiry.
How the engagement works
The model is dedicated offshore staffing. 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 (offshored.net/how-it-works, read 29 October 2026). The client engages a staffing service rather than employing an overseas worker.
Every candidate goes through a pre-screening interview before being endorsed to the client and holds an NBI clearance, the Philippine police check. Typical time from brief to a shortlist is one to two weeks (same page). The client checks in formally at the end of the six month probation and then at regular reviews.
How to run the check for your own role
- Open Seek's career advice salary pages and find the advertised salary for the role in your city.
- Add superannuation at the current employer rate.
- Open the Offshored pricing page and find the tier that matches the role.
- Divide the Offshored annual fee (monthly fee multiplied by twelve) by the Australian total, and subtract from one.
If the result lands inside the published range of 59 to 76 percent for Sydney, the benchmark is doing its job. If it lands well outside, the role may sit in a different tier than you expected, or the Seek figure may have moved since September 2026, which is why the benchmark page carries a last updated date and is refreshed when Seek's figures change.
The point of publishing the method
A saving claim that cannot be checked is a marketing line. A saving claim with its inputs on the table is a business decision an owner can defend to a partner, an accountant or a board. Offshored publishes the method because the clients it wants are the ones who check.
Check the number for your own role, then put it to us.
Book a 20-minute call and bring the Seek figure for the role you have in mind. If the fit is right you will get a fixed monthly fee for that role, month to month, with no lock-in. We reply within one business hour, 8am to 6pm AEST, Monday to Friday.
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