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Nearshore engineers who work like your US team.
TekRecruiter is a nearshore staffing and staff augmentation agency focused solely on technology and engineering roles at tech and SaaS companies. We place senior, English-fluent engineers in Latin America who have already worked for US companies, ship on your hours and cost about half as much as a US hire. Beyond skills and experience, we look for HEARTThe HEART standardHHigh agencyEExecutionAAccountabilityRResourcefulnessTTransparencyWhat we look for, beyond skills →.
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What is nearshore staffing?
Nearshore staffing means hiring engineers in nearby countries whose working hours overlap with yours. For US companies that usually means Latin America, where engineers can join your standups, review code the same day and work your hours. It differs from offshore staffing in Asia or Eastern Europe, where a gap of seven to twelve hours turns collaboration into overnight handoffs.
- Staff augmentation
- The engineer joins your team and works under your management, while the staffing firm employs them.
- Employer of record
- The company that legally employs the worker: it runs payroll and carries the employment taxes and insurance.
- Misclassification
- Treating someone as an independent contractor when the law sees an employee. It brings back taxes, back pay and penalties.
What to know before you hire nearshore.
Whether or not you work with us, these are the questions worth settling before you build a team in Latin America.
Where should you start?
Start with the math. Compare the full cost against opening the role remote in the US: if a nearshore engineer would cost what a US hire does, hire in the US. Nearshore works when senior engineers in Latin America build alongside your US team and keep engineering spend lower. Then set the hours of overlap you need and the English level the role demands.
Which country should you hire in?
Brazil is Latin America’s largest country and economy, with about 213 million people and roughly 6.9 million developers on GitHub, the fourth most of any country. São Paulo runs one to two hours ahead of US Eastern year-round, which suits East Coast teams. Mexico has deep talent too, but in our placements senior tech pay there runs about 3–5% higher than in Brazil, and most of it sits one to three hours behind Eastern, which often suits West Coast teams better.
What is the misclassification risk?
Hiring engineers directly as contractors when the work looks like employment can bring back payroll taxes and IRS penalties, plus back pay. Microsoft paid $97 million to settle its “permatemp” case. Abroad the risk is often higher: in Brazil, labor courts reclassify “PJ” contractors as employees, with up to five years of back benefits and social-security contributions, and the Supreme Court is still settling the rules in 2026.
Staffing firm, EOR or contractors hired directly?
Contractors hired directly leave the classification risk with you. An employer-of-record provider takes on the formal employer duties abroad, but its contract typically shares the risk through indemnities, and courts look at who directs the work. A U.S. staffing firm that employs the engineer carries the employer obligations itself. Whoever you choose, ask who the legal employer is and what the contract makes you liable for.
What should you screen for?
At least three years working directly for US companies, not through IT services firms that juggle clients. Professional English, and the confidence to use it: to push back in a design review or flag a risk in standup. And real product knowledge, because nearshore engineers are often kept away from the big picture. The simplest test of a nearshore partner: judge them by the candidates they send.
What does a nearshore engineer really cost?
Two numbers matter. What the engineer earns: in our June 2026 benchmark, US-headquartered companies paid senior engineers in Latin America about $55,000–$108,000 in base salary. And what you pay: through TekRecruiter, a senior engineer runs about $39–$57 an hour all in, against $105–$115 for a contract engineer in the US. The gap between salary and rate covers employer costs, compliance, insurance and the search, and after about a year most of the recruiting fee comes out. Full tables: 2026 Salary & Rate Guide.
Most clients come to us after nearshore didn’t deliver.
Many companies have tried nearshore or offshore on their own before they call us. The stories tend to sound alike.
- 01
A misclassification scare.
Engineers hired directly as contractors, and a growing worry about what that exposes the company to.
- 02
Freelancers, not teammates.
Low engagement, little ownership, and delivery that never matched the US team.
- 03
Communication that slowed everything.
Weak English and quiet standups, so problems surfaced late.
- 04
Paying too much for too little.
Offshore rates across a ten-hour gap, or nearshore budgets spent on engineers too junior for the work.
Engineers who have already worked for US companies.
We never put a client through someone’s first US job or first year of professional English. Every nearshore engineer we present has worked directly for US companies for at least three years, speaks English with confidence, knows the products they built, and meets the same HEART standard as our US hires. And TekRecruiter, a U.S. staffing firm, is their employer of record.
- Three-plus years with US companies: directly, not through IT services firms that juggle clients, so they already know how US tech teams work.
- English with confidence: the kind that pushes back in a design review and flags a risk in standup, not just passes a test.
- Real product knowledge: engineers who understand the product and the business they build for, not just their tickets.
- We’re the employer of record: we contract and pay the engineer and carry the compliance and insurance, so you aren’t hiring contractors directly.
| Going it alone | TekRecruiter |
|---|---|
| Contractors hired directly, risk on you | A U.S. staffing firm as the employer of record |
| A first job with a US company | Three-plus years working directly for US companies |
| English that passes a test | English that holds up in a design review |
| A freelancer mindset | Engineers who stay and grow with you |
| An offshore time-zone gap | Your hours, same-day code review |
The HEART standard
What we look for beyond skills and experience, in every candidate we present.
- High agencyPeople who see what needs to be done and act without waiting to be told.
- ExecutionPeople who turn ideas into results.
- AccountabilityPeople who own the outcome, not just their piece of the work.
- ResourcefulnessPeople who figure things out when the answer isn’t obvious.
- TransparencyPeople who communicate clearly, honestly, and early.
From first call to first commit.
We scope the role and the overlap
Stack, seniority, English level, the hours you need covered, and the right country for your team.
We vet, then introduce
The same vetting as our US searches, plus English, US-company experience and product depth. You interview every engineer.
They start, and the rate drops over time
Engineers join your team as TekRecruiter staff, often on a three- or six-month project. After about a year, we can move them to our employer-of-record rate, with most of the recruiting fee removed.
What clients say.
Their ability to quickly supply highly skilled software and DevOps engineers who blend in well with our existing teams continues to amaze me. They are highly technical at the account management level and transparently propose different solutions, whether staff augmentation or nearshore outsourcing.
The hiring team needed someone who could build a Java automation framework from scratch, and we had worked the search for six straight months with at least 12 or 13 vendors. TekRecruiter sent one candidate, and he got the job.
We needed to hire a senior IAM engineer with deep SOC 2 knowledge, and the role had been open for more than three months. Within a week of speaking with Ron, his team sent over three very solid profiles, and we finally found the right fit in just two weeks.
Across multiple companies, I’ve hired more than six senior software engineers through TekRecruiter, and every one of them has been an impressive builder.
I got a firsthand look when I needed a software engineer with strong TypeScript skills to join my team. I was happy with the candidates, and I was able to make a hiring decision.
A former colleague referred me to TekRecruiter, and I was very impressed by the caliber of the senior DevOps engineers they presented. I identified two senior DevOps engineers who were exceptional fits for my team.
He said he would share three to four candidates within a week, and that’s exactly what he did. We hired a senior software engineer we’re confident in, and we’ve been thrilled with how well things have worked out.
The few times I’ve hired over the last five years, I’ve always been vendor neutral, and TekRecruiter has been the staffing partner that filled every one of those open engineering roles.
When nearshore is the right call.
- You want senior engineers at a lower total cost, building alongside your US team.
- Your team needs real-time collaboration, not overnight handoffs across a ten-hour gap.
- The work is long term, with a roadmap that keeps a strong engineer busy past the first project.
- A nearshore hire would cost what a US hire does. Then hire in the US; we recruit there too.
- The role must be on site or needs a U.S. security clearance. Direct hire or contract in the US is the right model.
- You want to hand off a whole project. Our engineers work under your management; we’re not a dev shop.
Nearshore vs. offshore vs. contractors hired directly.
| Nearshore with TekRecruiterYou are here | Offshore staffing | Contractors hired directly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working hours | Brazil: one to two hours ahead of US Eastern | Often seven to twelve hours apart | Depends on where they live |
| Collaboration | Live standups, same-day code review | Overnight handoffs | Varies by person |
| Who employs them | TekRecruiter, a U.S. staffing firm | The vendor, often outside the US | No one; you contract them yourself |
| Classification risk | Carried by us as the employer of record | Depends on the vendor’s contract | Yours |
| Vetting | Three-plus years at US companies, English, HEART | Varies by vendor | Yours to do |
Nearshore hiring questions, answered.
What is nearshore staff augmentation?
Nearshore staff augmentation adds engineers from nearby countries to your team on contract. For US companies that usually means Latin America. The engineers work your hours under your management, while the staffing firm employs and pays them, often as the employer of record. You keep the control of staff augmentation, with overlapping time zones and a lower cost than a US hire.
Who employs the nearshore engineers?
TekRecruiter does. As a U.S. staffing firm, we are the employer of record: we contract and pay the engineer and carry the compliance and insurance, and you work with a U.S. company that is accountable for the engagement. That removes the misclassification risk of hiring contractors directly. You direct the day-to-day work, so a few workplace obligations stay shared, as with any staffing partner.
Can the rate come down over time?
Yes. Once an engineer has worked with you through us for about a year, we can move them to our employer-of-record model: they stay on our staff, and we remove most of the recruiting fee from the hourly rate. What remains covers employment, compliance and insurance, at a rate competitive with dedicated EOR providers.
How much does a nearshore engineer cost per hour?
Through TekRecruiter, senior engineers in Latin America cost about $39–$57 an hour all in: front-end $39–$50, back-end $39–$53, and SRE and DevOps $42–$57. That is about half the $105–$115 an hour a US contract engineer bills. The rate covers the engineer’s pay, employer costs, compliance, insurance and the search. On the market, the same senior engineers earn about $55,000–$108,000 in base salary.
Which Latin American countries do you recruit in?
Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Ecuador, with a secondary office in São Paulo. Of the more than 130 nearshore engineers we have placed, about 70% are in Brazil, 20% in Argentina, and 5% each in Colombia and Mexico. In our experience, senior tech pay in Mexico runs about 3–5% higher than in Brazil.
Do nearshore engineers work US hours?
Yes. São Paulo is one to two hours ahead of US Eastern year-round, and most of Mexico is one to three hours behind. Working hours and overlap are agreed before the engineer starts.
How long do nearshore engagements last?
Many start as a three- or six-month project. When clients see the caliber of the engineer and the cost, most keep them on for the next project, which is how nearshore should work.
How many nearshore engineers has TekRecruiter placed?
More than 130 to date, about a third of them in 2026. Most are senior software, DevOps and Salesforce engineers working US hours for US companies.
What is the HEART standard?
HEART is the standard we screen every candidate against, beyond skills: high agency, execution, accountability, resourcefulness and transparency. It describes people who take ownership, turn ideas into results and move the business forward. See the standard.
1 Latin America rates from TekRecruiter’s June 2026 compensation benchmark; country and legal facts from public sources (2026 Tech Salary & Rate Guide, IBGE population estimate, 2025, GitHub Octoverse 2025, IRS, contractor or employee, Vizcaino v. Microsoft, Brazil PJ reclassification (Fisher Phillips)), reviewed September 2026.
Last updated .
Nearshore by country and role.
Build your team in your time zone.
Tell us the roles and the hours you need covered. You'll talk with our founder, Ron Smith.
