Most "best countries to hire remote workers" lists rank countries by talent pool and English proficiency, which is genuinely useful right up until you get a quote and discover that the country you picked adds 60% to every salary. The cost side rarely makes it into those lists, so here it is: employer statutory load, mandatory bonuses, and notice rules for the 25 markets we cover, in one table.
Two things this page will not do. It will not tell you which country has the best engineers, because that depends on what you are building and we are a payments company, not a recruiter. And it will not pretend the cheapest statutory load is the cheapest hire, because it usually is not.
The four things that actually vary
When founders compare countries, they compare salaries. Salaries are the biggest number, but they are also the one you already know how to research. These four are the ones that surprise people:
- Employer statutory contributions. Pension, social insurance, and mandatory funds paid by the employer on top of gross salary. This ranges from about 3% to about 70% depending on the country. It is set by law, so no provider or entity structure changes it.
- Mandatory extra months of pay. Around a third of the markets below require a 13th month, and a few require a 14th. It is not a bonus you can decide against in a slow quarter. Budget it as salary, because that is what it legally is.
- What ending employment costs. Notice periods range from nothing (Mexico, which uses a severance system instead) to seven months (Germany, at long tenure). In several countries severance accrues from the first day.
- Which currency salary must be paid in. In every market below, employee salary is legally paid in local currency. This one catches almost everyone, because contractors can invoice in USD and people reasonably assume employees can be paid the same way. They cannot.
Employer cost by country
Statutory load is the employer's share on top of gross salary. Figures match each country's guide, which has the contribution-by-contribution breakdown.
| Country | Employer statutory load | 13th month pay | Notice period | Shor EOR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | ~3-5% | No | 7 to 28 days, by tenure | $299/mo |
| Chile | ~4-5% | No (profit share is) | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Rwanda | ~9-16% | No | 15 to 30 days | $299/mo |
| Uganda | ~10% | No | 0 to 90 days, by tenure | $299/mo |
| Philippines | ~10-15% | Yes, by December 24 | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Canada | ~10-15% | No | By tenure and province | $449/mo |
| Indonesia | ~11-13% | Yes (THR) | 14 days | $299/mo |
| Pakistan | ~11-14% | No | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Kenya | ~12-18% | No | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Nigeria | ~12-15% | No | 7 to 90 days, by tenure | $299/mo |
| Switzerland | ~12-17% | Not statutory, but near-universal | 1 to 3 months | $449/mo |
| Ghana | ~13% | No | 7 to 30 days | $299/mo |
| UAE | 12.5-15%, Emiratis only | No | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Singapore | ~17%, citizens and PRs | No (AWS bonus is common) | 30 days | $449/mo |
| United Kingdom | ~18-23% | No | 1 to 12 weeks, by tenure | $449/mo |
| Nepal | ~20% | Yes (Dashain, ~October) | 1 to 30 days | $299/mo |
| India | ~20-25% | No | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Germany | ~22-23% | No | 4 weeks to 7 months | $449/mo |
| Netherlands | ~23-34% | No (8% holiday pay is) | 1 to 4 months | $449/mo |
| Mexico | ~25-35% | Yes (aguinaldo) | None, severance-based | $299/mo |
| Argentina | ~26-30% | Yes (SAC, June and Dec) | 15 to 60 days | $299/mo |
| Colombia | ~30-35% | Yes (prima) | 15 days | $299/mo |
| Italy | ~30-35% | Yes, in December | 30 to 60 days | $449/mo |
| Peru | ~30-40% | Yes, twice a year | 30 days | $299/mo |
| Brazil | ~55-70% | Yes, two installments | 30 days, plus 3 days a year | $299/mo |
Statutory rates change, sometimes mid-year. Treat the table as a planning tool and confirm current rates for your specific country and salary band before you build a budget on them.
Reading the table without drawing the wrong conclusion
South Africa sits at the top with a 3-5% load and Brazil sits at the bottom at 55-70%, and it would be easy to conclude that a South African hire costs a fifth of a Brazilian one. That is not how it works, for three reasons.
Salary levels differ more than statutory load does. A senior engineer's market salary varies by a factor of three or four across these markets. That spread swamps a 20-point difference in employer contributions. Run the total, not the percentage.
The mandatory months are real money. Brazil's headline load already includes a lot, but a market like Peru pays gratificaciones twice a year, which is roughly two extra months of salary annually. A 30-40% load plus two extra months is a different number than 30-40% alone.
Exit cost is part of hiring cost. In Brazil, FGTS deposits accrue every month and there is a penalty on termination without cause. In Germany, dismissal protection makes ending employment a negotiation rather than a notice letter. If there is a real chance the role does not work out in year one, that changes the honest cost of the market.
The countries that tend to look best on total cost for a first international hire, once you account for all of the above, are the ones with a moderate statutory load and no mandatory extra months: India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa. The Philippines looks similar on contribution rate alone, but mandatory 13th month pay by December 24 adds roughly another month of salary (~8% of annual cost), so it does not belong in that list. The countries worth paying more for are the ones where the specific talent lives, which is a different question and the one that should usually win.
The contractor path, and when it is honest
Every market above is also a market where you can engage independent contractors, at a fraction of the setup effort and none of the statutory load. Contractors fund their own contributions, invoice you directly, and can invoice in USD.
This is the right structure for a genuinely independent professional with their own equipment, their own schedule, and ideally other clients. It is the wrong structure for someone who works your hours, reports to your manager, and does core work alongside your employees. That person is an employee in substance, and most of these countries will treat them as one when it is tested, with back contributions and penalties attached. A useful gut check: if you would be uncomfortable with them taking on a second client next month, they are probably an employee.
Start people as contractors where that is honest, convert them when the relationship changes. That sequence is normal and defensible. The reverse, hiring someone as an employee in substance and labeling them a contractor to avoid the load in the table above, is the expensive mistake.
What it costs through Shor
Employees through our employer of record: $299 or $449 per employee per month depending on the country, as marked in the table. No setup fees, no minimums, month to month. Where a country requires a deposit, we quote it up front before you sign rather than at onboarding. Statutory contributions are passed through at cost and itemized, because they are the country's number, not ours.
If you already have an entity in a country and just want payroll run through it, that is $50-60 per employee per month depending on the market.
Contractors: $19 per month per contractor, including contracts, W-8BEN and W-9 collection, and invoicing. Conversion to local currency carries a flat 2% margin, disclosed on the receipt and charged only when money actually converts, so a contractor who holds their balance in USD and converts only what they need pays it on that fraction. Same-day local rails cover India, the Philippines, Nigeria, and 12 or more LATAM corridors; other corridors settle on standard timelines.
The pricing calculator will run a specific salary in a specific country, statutory contributions included. If you are still deciding between an employer of record and a professional employer organization, we walk through that in EOR vs. PEO.
Where you are hiring from narrows this list too, mostly through timezone overlap: we mapped it for startups hiring from San Francisco and from New York. And if someone on your team has already moved somewhere on this table without telling you, start here.
FAQ
Which country is cheapest to hire employees in? On employer statutory contributions alone, South Africa (~3-5%) and Chile (~4-5%) are the lowest in the table above. On total cost, the answer is usually different, because market salaries vary far more between countries than contribution rates do, and several low-rate markets have other costs attached. Compare full annual cost including any mandatory 13th month, not the percentage.
Do I need to pay a 13th month salary? Only where it is statutory, which in the markets above means Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, and the Philippines. It is not discretionary in those countries and it is not a performance bonus; it is legally part of annual compensation. Peru requires it twice a year. Where it is not mandatory it is sometimes still market practice, which is a retention question rather than a legal one.
Can I pay employees in another country in USD? Generally no. In every market in the table, statutory salary must be paid in local currency to a local account. Contractors are different: they invoice as a business and can invoice in USD. Our guide to paying international contractors in USD covers how that works and why teams in high-inflation markets ask for it.
How long does it take to hire someone in a new country? Through an employer of record, usually days rather than months, because the entity already exists and onboarding is paperwork. Setting up your own entity takes months in most of these markets, plus ongoing local accounting and filings, and in some jurisdictions a resident director. The entity route makes sense once you have enough headcount in one country to justify the overhead, not for your first hire there.