Direct hire vs offshore staffing agency

There are two common ways for an Australian business to get a full-time staff member in the Philippines. The difference is who the person works for, and how the provider is paid.

• Direct hire. A recruiter finds and screens candidates. You choose one, engage them yourself and pay them directly. The recruiter is paid once.
• Offshore staffing agency (also called offshore staff leasing, managed services or BPO staffing). The agency hires the person, pays them, and usually provides the office or equipment and HR support. You pay the agency a monthly rate for as long as the person works for you.

Both can work well. They suit different businesses. If the terms are new to you, our explainer on offshoring vs outsourcing sets out the definitions.

Direct hire vs agency: who does what

	Direct hire	Offshore staffing agency
Legal employer or contracting party	You	The agency
Who pays the staff member	You, directly	The agency, from your monthly invoice
Statutory benefits (if hired directly): 13th month, holiday pay, contributions	You	The agency
Payroll and payslips	You, or a payroll provider you choose	The agency
Equipment, internet backup, workspace	You or the staff member, as agreed	Usually the agency
Day-to-day management	You	You, with agency HR support
Replacement if it doesn’t work out	Recruiter’s guarantee period, then you	Usually the agency, while you are a client
Ongoing fee to the provider	None	Every month
Leaving the arrangement	Per your contract with the staff member	Per the agency’s notice terms

The 24-month fee comparison

Staff Domain is one of the few Australian managed providers that publishes its rates, so we use it as the example. On its Scale pricing page, checked on 12 October 2026, it lists:

• A$1,099 per person per month per staff member;
• a recruitment fee of A$1,200 per hire, applied to the invoices for months 3 and 4;
• no lock-in and 60 days’ notice.

Tarino charges $250 upfront and $4,750 on hire, $5,000 excl. GST in total, with no monthly fee. Our pricing page sets out the terms.

The table compares provider fees only. The staff member’s salary is paid in both models, so it is left out.

Months	Staff Domain	Tarino (direct hire)
3	$3,897	$5,000
6	$7,794	$5,000
12	$14,388	$5,000
24	$27,576	$5,000
Difference at 24 months	$22,576

Staff Domain fees at month 3 include half the recruitment fee. GST treatment for Staff Domain is not stated on its page. Tarino’s figure is excl. GST.

On fees alone, the agency route passes Tarino’s one-time fee in month 4. After that, the gap grows by $1,099 every month.

What the comparison leaves out

To be fair to the agency model, two points.

First, the agency fee buys things a direct employer pays for separately. Staff Domain’s bookkeeper page says its all-inclusive monthly price covers salary, government-mandated SSS, PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG, 13th month pay, HMO health cover, paid leave and public holidays, a workstation and backup internet. If you hire directly as an employer, you pay for those yourself, or you set a higher salary that covers them. Add them to the direct-hire column before you decide. One-twelfth of basic salary for the 13th month pay is the largest predictable one.

Second, read the agency’s own pricing closely. Staff Domain’s pages describe the A$1,099 rate in different ways in different places. The bookkeeper page also shows all-inclusive monthly figures from A$2,200 to A$4,800 by seniority. We have treated the per-person rate as the agency’s charge on top of the cost of the person, which is how it is presented on the Scale page. Ask any agency to split its quote into salary, statutory costs and margin, so you can compare like with like.

When offshore staffing agencies are the better choice

A staffing agency is often the right call if you:

• do not want to be the employer or contracting party, or to run payroll in another country;
• want the provider to take on Philippine employment compliance;
• are building a larger team and want HR, team leads and replacements handled for you; or
• value the ability to give notice to the agency over managing an exit yourself.

An employer of record (EOR) sits between the two. The EOR hires the person for you, but you choose and manage them. Team Up Now, for example, publishes an EOR fee of A$300 per employee per month, with optional recruitment at A$2,000. See direct hire vs EOR vs contractor.

When direct hire is the better choice

Direct hire tends to suit you if you:

• want a long-term team member, such as a bookkeeper or executive assistant, and expect to keep them for years;
• are comfortable paying someone overseas each month, or using a payroll provider;
• want the person’s loyalty to sit with your business, not an intermediary; and
• would rather pay a recruiter once than fund a margin indefinitely.

The trade is responsibility. More sits with you under direct hire. Tarino’s role is to make the hire itself low-risk, through a staged screening process. We screen typically 1,000+ candidates per role and send 3 to 4 finalists in about two weeks, more than 95% of placements are still in the role at 6 months, and the fee includes 6-month replacement cover.

Use the cost calculator to run the numbers for your role, or see how to hire Filipino staff from Australia for the practical steps.