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Hire an offshore customer service representative who works your US hours
By William Smith, Co-founder and CEO, Offshored. Published . Last updated .
An offshore customer service representative from Offshored costs US$1,350 to US$1,700 per month, all-inclusive, and answers your phones, chat and tickets during your US business hours from Manila.
One dedicated person on your phone system and helpdesk, in your brand voice, who works only for your business. You choose the candidate, set the hours and own the scripts; Offshored handles recruitment, onboarding, payroll and HR in Manila, including the night shift that US hours require.
What an offshore customer service representative does
An offshore customer service representative handles the same queue as a representative in your office: inbound calls, live chat, email and tickets, order and delivery questions, bookings, returns and complaints, inside your own systems and to the response times you set.
The difference from a call center is that the person is yours. No shared agents, no per-minute billing, no script written by someone else. One full-time representative learns your products, your customers and your policies, and is still there next quarter.
They work inside your phone system, helpdesk and CRM with the access you grant. Your customer data stays in your own systems and you can change or remove that access at any time.
Task list
Tasks you can hand to an offshore customer service representative
Start with the first column and add the second as trust builds. Your team member follows your procedures and your approval limits, documented during onboarding.
Inbound calls and chat answering on your number and your website chat in your US business hours, in your brand voice
Email and ticket queue working the helpdesk queue to the first-response and resolution targets you set
Orders, deliveries and returns order status, shipping updates, returns and refunds inside your e-commerce or ERP system
Bookings and scheduling appointments, service calls and reschedules in your scheduling tool
Complaint handling first-contact resolution to your policies, with escalation to you under your rules
Outbound follow-up post-sale and post-service calls, review requests and win-back calls from your lists
Social and marketplace messages Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and eBay messages answered to your standards
Knowledge base updating macros, FAQs and help articles from the week's questions
Account updates address, payment and subscription changes processed in your systems
Reporting weekly volumes, first-response times, satisfaction scores and the issues worth fixing
Systems
Tools an offshore customer service representative typically uses
ZendeskFreshdeskHelp Scout, Gorgias and IntercomSalesforce Service CloudRingCentral, Dialpad, Aircall and 8x8Shopify, Amazon Seller Central and WooCommerceCalendly, Acuity and Housecall ProMicrosoft 365 and Google WorkspaceMicrosoft TeamsZoho DeskGladly and Kustomer
Tell us your phone system and helpdesk on the first call. Most candidates at this level have worked in Zendesk, Freshdesk or Salesforce Service Cloud with a cloud phone system, and a new tool is learned in the first week with your scripts and procedures.
Monthly cost
How much an offshore customer service representative costs per month in USD
A customer service representative from Offshored costs US$1,350 to US$1,700 per month. That is one flat, all-inclusive fee per full-time team member, invoiced monthly in advance, converted from the Australian band on our pricing page as set out below.
Item
Offshore customer service representative
Monthly fee
US$1,350 to US$1,700 per month
Monthly fee, Pacific hours
US$1,500 to US$1,900 per month
Where in the band
Lower end for a single-channel email or chat role; upper end for a representative running phones, chat, tickets and social messages with complaint handling and weekly reporting
What is included
Everything: recruitment and vetting, employment in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, salary, Philippine income tax and statutory contributions (SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG), 13th month pay, paid leave, HMO health insurance after the six month probation, payroll, timekeeping, HR and performance management, office space and equipment for office based team members, and replacement at our cost if the person leaves
What is not included
Your phone system, helpdesk and CRM subscriptions, and any hardware you choose to supply beyond what Offshored provides
Night shift differential
US business hours are covered by a night shift in Manila. Philippine law sets a night shift differential of 10 percent of the regular wage for each hour worked between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am (Labor Code of the Philippines, Article 86), and Offshored includes it in the monthly fee, so the USD price shown is the price you pay.
Fees
No recruitment, placement or setup fees. One monthly invoice in US dollars from Offshored Pty Ltd, an Australian company
How the USD figure is set
Converted from A$1,900 at the Wise mid-market AUD to USD rate of 0.7017 read on October 23, 2026, rounded up to the next US$50. Eastern time fees are shown; Pacific time fees are 10 percent higher before rounding. The rate is fixed between reviews and is reviewed on the first business day of each quarter (next review Monday, January 4, 2027); a change applies only to new quotes, never to a running contract.
A typical week for your offshore customer service representative, and what it replaces
A customer service representative from Offshored costs US$1,350 to US$1,700 per month, all-inclusive, which is US$16,200 to US$20,400 a year. The US median wage for customer service representatives is US$44,770 a year (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025), and employer benefit costs add 30.0 percent of total compensation in private industry (BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026), so the loaded cost of the median US hire is US$63,957 a year. At the midpoint of the band, US$1,525 a month, the saving is 71.4 percent.
Comparison
Figure and source
Offshored fee
US$1,350 to US$1,700 per month, all-inclusive (US$16,200 to US$20,400 a year), converted from the Australian band on the Offshored pricing page.
US median wage
US$44,770 a year, occupation 43-4051 Customer Service Representatives, national estimate, May 2025 (BLS OEWS, released May 15, 2026). 25th percentile US$36,870, mean US$46,590, 75th percentile US$51,780. Employment 2,595,750.
With employer benefits
US$63,957 a year. Benefits were 30.0 percent of total compensation for private industry workers in June 2026 (wages and salaries $32.82 and benefits $14.07 of $46.89 per hour worked; BLS ECEC, released September 9, 2026), so the loaded cost is the median wage divided by 0.700.
Saving
71.4 percentat the band midpoint of US$1,525 a month (US$18,300 a year) against the loaded median cost of US$63,957. At US$1,350 the saving is 74.7 percent; at US$1,700 it is 68.1 percent.
Method: the saving compares the Offshored monthly fee times 12 with the BLS national median annual wage for the occupation divided by the ECEC wage share of total compensation (70.0 percent, private industry, June 2026). It leaves out the US employer's recruitment, office, equipment and management costs, so the real saving is usually larger. The Offshored fee already includes the Philippine night shift differential (10 percent of the team member's regular wage for hours between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am Manila time); fees shown are for Eastern hours, Pacific hours are 10 percent higher before rounding. Figures are national; wages in New York, San Francisco and Boston are higher than the national median and the saving there is larger. BLS figures read October 23, 2026.
What your offshore customer service representative does in a typical week, on your hours
Every US day: answer inbound calls and live chat in your business hours, in your phone system and helpdesk
Every US day: work the email and ticket queue to the response time targets you set
Every US day: handle order, delivery, booking and returns questions inside your own systems
Tuesday: make outbound follow-up calls after a sale or service and invite happy customers to leave a review
Wednesday: reply to Facebook, Instagram and marketplace messages
Thursday: update the knowledge base and reply macros from the week's questions
Friday: send the weekly report: volumes, first-response times, satisfaction scores and the issues worth fixing
This is the pattern most clients settle into after the first month. Your team member follows your procedures and approval limits, and you can change the mix at any time.
Who you get
Qualifications and experience
What Offshored looks for when shortlisting an offshore customer service representative for a US business:
Degree a bachelor's degree in business, communication or a related field
US customer experience two or more years handling US customers by phone, chat and email, in-house or in a Philippine team serving US companies
Spoken English clear, neutral spoken English tested with a live call before shortlisting; you hear the candidates yourself at interview
Written English correct, courteous written English for chat, email and tickets, tested with a written exercise
Systems a helpdesk (Zendesk, Freshdesk or similar), a cloud phone system and a CRM; your specific tools are learned in week one
Vetting a pre-screening interview with Offshored's recruitment team in Manila and an NBI clearance (the Philippine police check) before any candidate is presented to you
You interview the shortlisted candidates yourself. We suggest a short role-play of a difficult customer call so you can hear how they handle your customers.
Working hours
US business hours, covered from Manila
Your offshore customer service representative works a full eight-hour day, Monday to Friday, at the times you set in your US time zone. Manila is UTC+8 all year and does not observe daylight saving, so the gap narrows by one hour while US daylight time runs (March 8 to November 1, 2026; March 14 to November 7, 2027). US business hours are covered by a night shift in Manila. Philippine law sets a night shift differential of 10 percent of the regular wage for each hour worked between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am (Labor Code of the Philippines, Article 86), and Offshored includes it in the monthly fee, so the USD price shown is the price you pay.
Your time zone
Manila is ahead by
Your 9:00 am to 5:00 pm day in Manila time
Eastern (New York, Miami, Atlanta)
13 hours (12 hours in daylight time)
10:00 pm to 6:00 am (9:00 pm to 5:00 am in daylight time)
Central (Chicago, Dallas, Houston)
14 hours (13 hours in daylight time)
11:00 pm to 7:00 am (10:00 pm to 6:00 am in daylight time)
Mountain (Denver, Salt Lake City)
15 hours (14 hours in daylight time)
12:00 am to 8:00 am (11:00 pm to 7:00 am in daylight time)
Pacific (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle)
16 hours (15 hours in daylight time)
1:00 am to 9:00 am (12:00 am to 8:00 am in daylight time)
Hours in the table are Manila local time; a 9:00 am Eastern start in winter is 10:00 pm the same calendar day in Manila. Team members work US public holidays unless the day is also a Philippine holiday, and Offshored gives you two business days' notice of any Philippine holiday that affects your team member's schedule. Every shift is logged on our timekeeping platform. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii do not observe daylight time; ask us for your exact overlap.
How the engagement works
Who you contract with, and who employs your team member
You contract with Offshored Pty Ltd, an Australian company (ABN 84 664 866 433), for a dedicated staffing service and receive one monthly invoice. Your team member is employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company (Company Reg. 2023010082245-00), which runs payroll, statutory contributions, benefits and HR. No US employment relationship arises, and Offshored has no US entity, office or phone number: our offices are in Sydney and Manila, and we work with US clients by video call, email and WhatsApp.
The employment contract includes confidentiality and intellectual property assignment clauses, so the work product belongs to you. Read how offshore staffing works and how Offshored protects client data. Ask your own CPA or attorney how to treat the monthly invoice and any vendor documentation your business requires.
Six questions
What US owners ask before hiring an offshore customer service representative
How much does an offshore customer service representative cost in the US?
An offshore customer service representative costs US$1,350 to US$1,700 a month through Offshored for one full-time person dedicated to your business. The fee is all-inclusive: recruitment, employment by Australian Pathways OPC, salary, 13th month pay, payroll, HMO health insurance after probation, and replacement at Offshored's cost if the person leaves. There is no recruitment fee and no lock-in contract; the statutory night shift differential for hours worked between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am Manila time is already inside the fee. The US median wage for customer service representatives is US$44,770 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), before employer benefit costs.
How does a representative in Manila cover US business hours?
By working a night shift. Manila is 13 hours ahead of New York in winter and 12 in summer, and 16 and 15 hours ahead of Los Angeles, so a 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern day is 10:00 pm to 6:00 am in Manila in winter. US business hours are covered by a night shift in Manila. Philippine law sets a night shift differential of 10 percent of the regular wage for each hour worked between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am (Labor Code of the Philippines, Article 86), and Offshored includes it in the monthly fee, so the USD price shown is the price you pay. The coverage table on this page shows every US time zone against Manila time.
Will my customers know they are speaking to someone offshore?
Your representative answers on your number, in your brand voice, with your scripts and your policies, and works only for your business, so customers deal with a member of your team who knows your products. Offshored screens candidates for clear spoken and written English with a live call and a written test, and you interview the shortlist yourself before choosing.
Do I become the employer of an offshore customer service representative?
No. Your representative is employed in the Philippines by Australian Pathways OPC, a registered Philippine company, and you contract with Offshored Pty Ltd, an Australian company (ABN 84 664 866 433), for a staffing service. Offshored has no US entity, office or payroll. Ask your CPA how to record the monthly invoice in your books.
Can one representative cover phones, chat and email?
Yes, at the volumes most small and medium businesses see. One dedicated representative can run inbound calls, website chat and the ticket queue in a single shift when the channels are in one helpdesk. When call volume fills the day on its own, hire a second representative for the written channels. We scope the volume with you on the first call and recommend one person or two.
What happens on US public holidays and Philippine holidays?
Your representative works your schedule, including US public holidays if you want cover, unless the day is also a Philippine public holiday. Offshored gives you two business days' notice of any Philippine holiday that affects the schedule, and every shift is logged on our timekeeping platform.
Ready to talk about hiring an offshore customer service representative? Book a free 20-minute call.
Pick a time and William Smith, Offshored's co-founder, calls you at a time that suits your US time zone. We scope the role, give you the monthly cost band in USD and tell you honestly whether offshore staff will work for your business. No lock-in, no obligation.
Prefer to type? Message us on WhatsApp or send the inquiry form. We reply within one business hour, 8am to 6pm Sydney time (AEST, UTC+10), Monday to Friday; book a call and we phone you at a time that suits your US time zone.