US companies are hiring skilled professionals across Latin America at a growing pace. This guide covers the full process: choosing a hiring model, comparing countries, sourcing and vetting candidates, setting pay, meeting compliance rules and onboarding in the first 90 days.
Combine focuses on hiring Latin American talent, and this guide is written for US companies that want to do the same. It is based on our experience placing professionals in direct hire, executive search and outsourcing engagements since 2019.
Why US Companies Are Hiring LATAM Professionals in 2027
Three forces are driving LATAM hiring:
A talent shortage at home. In ManpowerGroup's 2026 US Talent Shortage Survey, 69% of US employers said they have difficulty finding the talent they need.
Momentum in nearshoring. In a 2026 survey by CIT, 76% of tech leaders said they plan to increase nearshore hiring over the next two years.
A remote-ready workforce in Latin America that has matured over the last several years.
The numbers from the field point the same way. Near's 2026 State of LatAm Hiring Report, based on more than 2,000 placements made by US companies, found that software engineer placements grew 250% year over year, and its midyear 2026 report showed US placements in the region up 67% compared with the first half of 2025.
This is not about finding cheaper labor. In the same report, 84% of placements were mid-level or senior roles, and one in three hires was senior-level, including VPs and directors. Companies hire in Latin America to reach experienced professionals they cannot find, or cannot afford, at home.
Cost efficiency without sacrificing seniority
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for software developers at $135,980 (May 2025). Revelo's 2026 salary guide puts the median for senior software engineers at about $66,000 in Brazil and Colombia and $72,000 in Mexico. Near reports that senior developers in the region cost 36% to 56% less than US salaries, and SDR and BDR roles 58% to 64% less.
Real-time collaboration
Most Latin American countries sit within 0 to 3 hours of US Eastern Time. A developer in Bogotá or Buenos Aires attends the same standups, joins the same brainstorms and ships in the same sprint cycles as a teammate in New York. Compared with hiring in Asia, where a 10 to 12 hour gap creates delays that build up over time, this is a major operational advantage.
A mature, remote-first workforce
LATAM professionals have years of experience in distributed environments. They work daily in tools like Slack, Notion, Jira and Figma, and many have worked with US clients before. Randstad's 2025 Workmonitor found that 50% of Latin American workers are prioritizing AI training, a higher share than in other regions.
Cultural alignment
Latin American professionals share many work styles, business practices and communication patterns with US teams. Integration is often faster than with hires from regions with bigger cultural gaps.
Step 1: Define the Role and Hiring Model
Before sourcing candidates, clarify two things: what the role requires and how you want to structure the employment relationship.
What does the role require?
Write a job description that focuses on outcomes, not task lists. LATAM professionals, especially at the senior level, respond better to descriptions that explain the impact of the role, the team they will join and the growth available. Generic job posts attract generic candidates.
Be specific about English requirements. For client-facing roles, C1 or C2 is usually necessary. For back-end engineering or data roles, B2 may be enough if the team communicates mainly in writing. Stating this upfront saves time for everyone.
Which hiring model fits your needs?
There are three main ways to hire LATAM professionals. Each one changes cost, speed, compliance and control.
Direct hire means the professional becomes a full-time employee of your company, either through a local legal entity or through an Employer of Record (EOR). This model offers the deepest integration and suits long-term, strategic roles. Use it when you want a long-term hire and can manage local compliance, or use an EOR to do so.
Outsourcing means a third-party provider, such as Combine, employs the professional on your behalf. The worker is embedded in your team but legally employed by the partner. Use this model when you need to hire quickly without opening a local entity.
Independent contractor agreements are common in LATAM but carry real risk when misused. If a contractor works full-time hours, follows your schedule and reports to your managers, local courts and labor authorities can treat the arrangement as employment, whatever the contract says. Use this model only for genuinely project-based, time-limited work.
Step 2: Understand the LATAM Market, Country by Country
Treating Latin America as one market is one of the most common mistakes US companies make. Each country has its own talent profile, legal framework, pay expectations and professional culture. The right country depends on the role.
Brazil
Brazil has the largest tech talent pool in Latin America. São Paulo alone produces thousands of software engineers, data professionals and finance specialists each year. Brazil is also home to strong fintech, agritech and healthtech ecosystems.
Brazilian labor law (CLT) is among the most complex in the region. Employers must pay a 13th salary, a vacation bonus of one third of monthly pay and monthly FGTS deposits of 8% of salary, and must cover commuting costs above 6% of base salary through the vale-transporte. Companies hiring directly in Brazil need either a local entity or an EOR partner with deep Brazilian compliance expertise.
Mexico
Mexico is the top choice for nearshoring, especially for roles that need close collaboration with US teams. It has strong representation in software engineering, customer experience, operations and technology roles connected to manufacturing.
Mexico is cutting its legal workweek. A constitutional reform published in March 2026 lowers the limit from 48 hours to 46 hours in 2027, then step by step to 40 hours in 2030. Employers also owe PTU profit sharing, 10% of the company's taxable profit, paid each May.
Colombia
Colombia has become one of the fastest-growing tech hubs in Latin America, with strong talent in software development, digital marketing and business operations in Medellín and Bogotá. Colombia runs on UTC-5 all year, the same as US Eastern Standard Time.
Colombia offers an excellent cost-to-quality ratio, although the talent pool is smaller than Brazil's or Mexico's for highly specialized roles.
Argentina
Argentina has a long tradition of strong engineers and designers. Buenos Aires is known for high-quality talent in product design, UX research and software architecture. Many Argentine professionals have worked with US startups and are used to fast-paced, English-first environments.
Macroeconomic instability means professionals paid in US dollars enjoy significant purchasing power, which makes dollar-denominated pay attractive and improves retention. Currency and tax rules can be complex, so an experienced hiring partner is essential.
Chile and Uruguay
Both countries are known for institutional stability, regulatory predictability and highly educated workforces. They suit companies that put compliance certainty and professional maturity first. Their talent pools are smaller than Brazil's or Mexico's, but they tend to skew senior.
Step 3: Source Candidates Effectively
Sourcing LATAM talent needs a different approach from domestic recruiting. Standard job boards and LinkedIn InMails can generate volume, but they rarely surface the best candidates in the region.
What works in LATAM sourcing
Sourcing channels depend on the role and the country:
Regional job boards. Computrabajo covers most of Spanish-speaking Latin America and works well for operations roles. GetOnBoard is a job board focused on tech talent in Latin America.
LinkedIn. Broad reach, with good coverage in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.
Specialized recruiting partners. Useful when you do not have an in-house LATAM sourcing team. Combine maintains pre-vetted pipelines and presents a shortlist of qualified candidates within 5 to 10 business days.
Referral networks are powerful in Latin America. LATAM professionals are well connected in their local tech communities, and one strong hire can open the door to a group of equally qualified candidates. Referral incentives speed up sourcing.
Local tech communities and events, including meetups, hackathons and conferences such as Web Summit Rio, are good sources of passive candidates who may not answer cold outreach on LinkedIn.
What does not work
Posting only on US job boards and waiting for LATAM candidates to find you.
Automated outreach at scale without personalization.
Offering below-market pay and expecting to attract senior talent.
Treating LATAM candidates as a discount option. Strong candidates with international experience have other offers.
Step 4: Evaluate Candidates Beyond the Résumé
Technical skills are the entry requirement. What separates good LATAM hires from great ones is their ability to work independently in a distributed team, communicate clearly in English and own outcomes rather than tasks.
A five-point scorecard
Rate each candidate on five dimensions: English fluency, relevant experience, execution reliability, problem solving and team fit. Consistent scoring makes feedback objective and speeds up decisions.
Then run the assessments:
Technical or work sample. Use a take-home project or pair session instead of whiteboard puzzles. For non-technical roles, use a case study based on a real business scenario.
English communication. Hold at least one interview fully in English by video, and ask for a short written response to a work-related prompt, because written clarity matters for remote roles.
Remote readiness. Ask how the candidate manages time across time zones and handles feedback. Candidates who have worked with international clients usually show more remote maturity.
Reference checks. Go beyond dates and titles. Ask former managers how the candidate handled ambiguity, whether they would hire them again and what happened when a project went off track.
Decide within 48 hours of the final interview. Strong candidates often interview with several companies at once.
Step 5: Structure Competitive Compensation
Getting pay right in LATAM means knowing local benchmarks and the international market at the same time. The most common mistake is pricing offers on local averages while top candidates are being recruited by international companies.
Key principles
Pay above the local market, but do not overpay. Remote developers who work for international companies already earn well above local pay: Arc.dev's salary survey found about 2.2 times the local average. Offers that ignore this lose candidates; offers far above it create internal equity problems.
Consider total compensation, not only base salary. Learning budgets, flexible hours, home office stipends and private health insurance are meaningful differences for LATAM candidates. More detail is in our guide to LATAM salary bands.
Be transparent. Sharing the salary range upfront builds trust and reduces negotiation friction.
Salary benchmarks for senior software engineers
Revelo's 2026 salary guide puts the median for senior software engineers hired by international companies at about $72,000 a year in Mexico, $70,000 in Argentina and $66,000 in Brazil and Colombia. Compare these figures with current market data for your specific role before you make an offer, and see our 2026 cost breakdown for the full employer cost.
Mandatory annual bonuses are not optional
Several countries require a year-end or semi-annual bonus by law. Budget for it from the start:
Brazil: the 13th salary, one extra month of pay a year.
Mexico: the aguinaldo, at least 15 days of pay, due before December 20.
Argentina: the aguinaldo (SAC), half of the best monthly salary of each semester, paid in June and December.
Colombia: the prima de servicios, 30 days of pay a year, paid in two halves in June and December.
Peru: the gratificaciones, one monthly salary in July and another in December.
Step 6: Navigate Compliance and Legal Requirements
Compliance is where most US companies make costly mistakes when hiring in Latin America. Each country has its own labor laws, tax obligations and employee protections, and penalties for getting them wrong can be severe.
Employment contracts must follow local law
A contract under US or UK law does not override local rules when the professional works from their own country. Local courts apply domestic law, so mandatory benefits, notice periods and severance rules apply whatever the contract says.
Contractor misclassification is the biggest risk
If a professional works full-time hours, uses your tools, follows your processes and reports to your managers, they work like an employee, even if you call them a contractor. In Brazil, a contractor label does not stop courts or labor authorities from treating the relationship as employment, with back pay and benefits owed, and the Supreme Court is still ruling on the limits of contractor arrangements. Check these signals before you sign a contractor agreement. Our guide to EOR, contractor or employee hiring covers the tests country by country.
Employer of Record (EOR) and outsourcing
An EOR allows you to hire a full-time employee in LATAM without a legal entity. The EOR becomes the legal employer and handles payroll, taxes, benefits and compliance, while the professional works under your direction. It is the fastest way to hire compliantly in a new country.
Outsourcing through a recruitment partner offers a similar compliance structure. The partner employs the professional and handles legal obligations, while you manage the daily work. It suits companies that want to test LATAM hiring before committing to a larger operation.
Step 7: Onboard for Success
How you onboard a LATAM hire decides whether they become a long-term contributor or a short-term experiment. Remote onboarding needs more structure, not less.
A 30, 60 and 90 day plan
Days 1 to 30: learn the systems, shadow existing work and handle low-risk tasks. Run a daily 10-minute check-in for the first two weeks, then weekly.
Days 31 to 60: own a defined part of the scope and show measurable progress. Keep a weekly one-on-one.
Days 61 to 90: own outcomes against the role scorecard and complete a formal review at day 90.
Onboarding best practices
Give access to tools before day one. Slack, email, project tools and documentation should be ready when the professional starts. Delayed access signals disorganization.
Assign a buddy. Pair the new hire with an existing team member who can explain unwritten norms and team dynamics. This matters most for remote hires, who cannot absorb culture by sitting nearby.
Include them in the team. Invite them to meetings as contributors, not observers, and give direct feedback as you would to any full-time colleague.
Respect local calendars. Know the local holidays and time zone of each team member. Brazil's Carnival and Mexico's Día de Muertos are significant, and recognizing them builds loyalty.
Step 8: Retain LATAM Talent Long Term
Hiring is half of the job. Keeping LATAM professionals requires ongoing investment in their growth, recognition and sense of belonging.
What drives retention in LATAM
Career development. LATAM professionals are ambitious. Clear career paths, learning budgets and promotion opportunities keep them longer than treating them as static resources.
Fair treatment. If LATAM professionals attend meetings as observers, see their ideas ignored or are left out of strategic conversations, they will leave and tell their networks.
Regular pay reviews. Tech pay in the region keeps rising: CBRE found that software developer salaries in Latin America grew 28% between 2018 and 2023. Companies that never revisit pay lose people to competitors offering current market rates, so review pay each year against local benchmarks and performance.
Stability. In a region where economic volatility is a lived reality, professionals paid in US dollars by stable international companies have strong reasons to stay. Fair contracts, reliable payments and honest communication are among the most effective retention tools.
Common Mistakes When Hiring LATAM Talent
1. Hiring everyone as a contractor by default. It looks simpler, but misclassification risk is real, and most LATAM countries will treat a full-time relationship as employment.
2. Hiring without defined outcomes. Without a clear picture of success at 90 days, the job description and interviews drift.
3. Skipping structured onboarding. Distance means you cannot rely on informal knowledge transfer.
4. Offering below-market pay. Underpaying does not save money. It selects for candidates who could not get better offers, and it increases turnover.
5. Waiting too long to decide. Strong LATAM candidates move fast. A week of internal deliberation after the final interview is often enough to lose them.
How Combine Helps US Companies Hire in Latin America
Combine works with US companies that want to build teams in Latin America and supports them at each stage of the hiring process.
Direct hire and executive search
Combine manages the full recruitment cycle, from sourcing and screening to interview coordination and offer negotiation, and places professionals as direct employees. For leadership roles, our executive search team runs a discreet, consultative search.
Outsourcing
For companies that need to hire quickly without a local entity, Combine employs the professional on the client's behalf. The worker joins the client's team and works under its direction, while Combine handles payroll, benefits, compliance and HR administration. See how LATAM outsourcing works.
Market intelligence
Combine provides salary benchmarking, talent mapping and hiring strategy consulting, so companies can decide where, when and how to hire. Our analysis of which LATAM country a role should live in shows the approach.
Whether you are hiring your first LATAM professional or scaling an existing team, book a call with a Combine recruitment specialist.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to hire a LATAM professional?
With a specialized partner, the first shortlist usually arrives within days. Combine presents qualified candidates within 5 to 10 business days, and Near reports that LATAM hires through specialized partners typically close in under three weeks. Building a pipeline from scratch through job boards takes longer.
How much do US companies save by hiring in LATAM?
It depends on the role and country. Near reports savings of 36% to 56% for senior software developers and 58% to 64% for SDR and BDR roles compared with US salaries.
Do LATAM professionals speak English fluently?
English levels vary by country, role and individual. Professionals who already work with international clients often have strong English, but always test it during screening with a live interview and a written exercise.
What is the difference between an EOR and outsourcing?
An Employer of Record becomes the legal employer in the candidate's country and handles compliance, while you manage the work. Outsourcing through a partner like Combine works in a similar way, but the partner can also handle sourcing, vetting and ongoing HR support.
Can I hire LATAM professionals as contractors?
Yes, for genuinely project-based, time-limited work. Treating a full-time professional as a contractor to avoid employment obligations exposes you to back pay, benefits and fines in most LATAM countries. When in doubt, use an EOR or outsourcing model.
How do you pay a LATAM professional?
It depends on the hiring model. Under an EOR or outsourcing arrangement, the employer runs payroll in local currency. Contractors are usually paid by international bank transfer or through platforms such as Wise or Payoneer.
Which LATAM country has the best tech talent?
Brazil has the largest tech talent pool in Latin America, followed by Mexico. Colombia and Argentina are growing quickly, especially in software engineering and product design. The best country depends on the role, budget and specialization; our guide to choosing the right LATAM country compares them.
What time zones do LATAM professionals work in?
Colombia runs on UTC-5 all year, the same as US Eastern Standard Time. Mexico City stays on UTC-6, Central Standard Time, since Mexico ended daylight saving time in 2022. Brazil (Brasília) and Argentina run on UTC-3, one to two hours ahead of New York depending on the season, which leaves six to seven hours of shared working time.
