Hire Developers in the Philippines Through an EOR

Why Companies Hire Developers in the Philippines

Companies may consider hiring developers in the Philippines when they need additional technical capacity, access to specific skills or a way to expand an existing engineering team.

Developers may support:

• New product development
• Web applications
• Mobile applications
• Backend systems
• Frontend interfaces
• API integrations
• Internal business tools
• Cloud and DevOps workflows
• Quality assurance and testing
• Software maintenance
• Technical documentation
• Product improvements
• Ongoing engineering support

The right hiring structure depends on your product roadmap, technology stack, security requirements, project scope, management model, working hours and expected duration of the engagement.

For related guidance, see how to hire in the Philippines without establishing a local company .

What Roles Can You Hire?

You can hire developers and technical employees across multiple functions.

Before hiring, confirm the role scope, technology stack, seniority, reporting line, working hours, security requirements and performance expectations.

Teams can be structured from a single developer to a larger engineering function, depending on your roadmap and technical requirements.

Developer Salary and Cost Considerations

Developer compensation depends on the role, seniority, technology stack, experience, working arrangement and market conditions.

A developer quote should be based on the specific role rather than a generic salary range.

When reviewing the employment cost, consider:

• Employee salary
• Employer statutory contributions
• 13th-month pay
• HMO and other benefits
• Allowances
• Equipment
• Approved employee-specific expenses
• EOR management fee
• Recruitment or candidate-selection services, if separately requested

Fully Loaded Cost

The total cost of employing a developer is more than the base salary alone.

For an EOR arrangement, the monthly employment cost is:

For example, if a developer’s monthly salary is US$2,000, the EOR management fee adds US$190 per month. Salary-related statutory costs, 13th-month pay, benefits and other employee-specific costs are calculated separately.

Under the standard SOS structure, there is no SOS onboarding fee, exit or termination fee, or FX markup.

Employee-specific costs and approved third-party costs remain separate where applicable.

For current employment and payroll requirements, review the latest information from:

• Department of Labor and Employment
• Social Security System
• PhilHealth
• Bureau of Internal Revenue
• Pag-IBIG Fund

Cost Comparison: What Should You Include?

When comparing developer hiring options, compare the complete employment cost rather than salary alone.

For an EOR arrangement in the Philippines, review:

• Salary for the specific role
• Employer statutory contributions
• 13th-month pay
• Benefits and allowances
• Equipment and approved employee-specific expenses
• EOR management fee
• Any separately requested recruitment services
• Working-hour or shift requirements

A final quote should reflect the agreed role, salary, employment terms, benefits, allowances and other employee-specific costs.

See EOR pricing in the Philippines for more information.

You can also review the detailed Philippines EOR pricing guide .

How to Hire Developers in the Philippines

Hiring developers through an EOR involves defining the role, confirming the employment terms and completing the required employment setup.

How Quickly Can You Hire Developers?

Existing employees can generally be onboarded in as little as five business days once the MSA, employee information, required documentation and funding are complete.

The five-day onboarding commitment covers employment setup, payroll, HRIS enrolment and applicable statutory registrations.

Existing employees can generally be onboarded as early as five business days once the agreement, employee information, required documentation and funding are complete. Recruitment is included in the EOR fee. The overall timeline may vary depending on the role, candidate availability, interviews, documentation and approvals.

The overall timeline depends on whether you are:

• Onboarding an existing developer
• Recruiting a new candidate
• Finalising the role and employment terms
• Providing the required employee information and documentation
• Completing the agreement and funding process
• Setting up technical tools, access and workflows

When Should You Hire Developers Offshore?

You may want to consider hiring developers in the Philippines when technical work becomes a bottleneck or your existing team needs additional capacity.

Common triggers include:

• Product roadmap delays
• Difficulty hiring locally
• A need for specific technical skills
• Increasing development workload
• Growing maintenance requirements
• A need to expand a product team
• Limited internal QA or DevOps capacity
• A need for additional time-zone coverage
• Higher demand for technical support
• The need to convert an existing contractor into an employee

Before hiring, review your product roadmap, technology stack, development workflow, security requirements, team structure and expected start date.

Key Considerations Before Hiring

Successful distributed development depends on clear technical and management processes.

Important considerations include:

The employee’s daily technical responsibilities should be clearly defined before onboarding.

Your company manages technical direction, project priorities and performance. SOS manages the agreed employment administration and HR support.