Key Takeaways:
- Latin America offers a strong talent base of skilled professionals, competitive salary costs, and time zone alignment with North American companies.
- Each country has its own labor laws, mandatory benefits, and termination rules, making compliance across LATAM more complex to manage.
- An EOR provides companies with a faster, lower-risk path to hiring across LATAM, but pricing, coverage, and platform capabilities vary between providers.
Latin America’s talent market has evolved from a cost-cutting option into a strategic advantage for companies seeking skilled professionals at competitive rates.
The remote workforce in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina offers time zone overlap with other countries in the Americas, making it easier to manage collaboration, customer support, and project timelines.
However, international hiring always adds an extra layer of complexity. Each LATAM country has its own labor laws, tax systems, mandatory benefits, and termination requirements, and getting the details wrong can lead to fines, delays, and compliance risks.
That’s why many companies turn to Employer of Record (EOR) providers to hire LATAM talent quickly and compliantly, without having to establish expensive local entities in each country.
Hiring in Latin America: What Companies Need to Know
The LATAM region has seen rapid growth in the number of skilled professionals working in technology, engineering, finance, and customer support. But hiring across the region is not as simple as posting a job listing and onboarding a new hire.
Common LATAM hiring challenges include:
- Navigating country-specific labor laws
- Compliance with statutory benefits, such as paid leave and 13th-month salary
- Payroll complexity across multiple currencies and tax systems
- Permanent establishment risk
- Laws governing employment classifications, which vary by country
If you don’t have a legal entity, you can either set one up (expensive and slow) or partner with an EOR. The EOR then becomes the legal employer of your workers, handling payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance, while you stay in charge of day-to-day work. It’s a faster, more cost-effective way to hire global talent.
Best LATAM Employers of Record Quick View
RemoFirst
RemoFirst is a global EOR helping companies employ and manage talent in 185+ countries and manage international contractors in 150+, with solid coverage across Latin America.
RemoFirst offers affordable pricing starting at USD 199 per employee per month for EOR services. There is a free tier for contractor management only — which includes generating contracts and performing identity checks — and it costs USD 25 per contractor, per month, to manage and pay contractors.
This straightforward, all-in pricing is a huge benefit for startups and growing companies looking to test new markets or build a LATAM team, and value predictable costs with no surprises come invoice time.
RemoFirst takes care of:
- Creating locally compliant global employment contracts
- Payroll processing and tax filings in local currencies
- Statutory and supplemental benefits administration, including optional private health insurance
- Background checks and equipment shipping
We can also assist with visa and work permit applications across many LATAM countries, including:
RemoFirst doesn’t have as many HRIS integrations as some of the bigger platforms yet, but we’re actively expanding our integration stack, with recent additions like BambooHR and ADP Workforce Now.
If you also need help sourcing Latin America talent, RemoFirst partners with talent agencies, such as Nearshore Business Solutions, which helps U.S. businesses hire vetted professionals and developers across LATAM.
Book a demo to see RemoFirst’s comprehensive platform for yourself.
Ontop
Ontop offers hiring, contractor management, and payroll across 150+ countries, with deep specialization in LATAM. Ontop’s value prop is speed and compliance, enabling companies to automate contracts in minutes and send cross-border payments powered by AI.
Ontop also offers unique financial benefits, such as USD wallets, Visa Platinum cards, salary advances, and cashback perks, which can make your compensation packages more appealing to candidates.
But Ontop offers fewer enterprise-level features and a smaller global footprint than other EORs on this list, which may be limiting if you plan to expand beyond LATAM.
Additionally, EOR services are bundled into broader membership tiers rather than offered as a standalone price.
Reviews on G2 also note less competitive exchange rates, occasional payment delays, and slower response times from support.
Oyster
Oyster offers an all-in-one EOR solution to simplify global hiring, payroll, compliance, and benefits. Built for distributed teams, it supports hiring in 180+ countries, though its pricing page lists 120+, so it’s worth confirming coverage in your target market.
Oyster’s platform is easy to use, offering features to help time-crunched teams. Onboarding is largely automated, with new employees up and running in as little as 48 hours, and automated contract workflows can flag country-specific statutory requirements to support compliance. Oyster also offers a large variety of integrations with other HRIS, ATS, ERP, and security tools.
G2 users provide mixed feedback, with many complaining that customer service is slow or delayed, and that communication is unclear, particularly in certain regions. Additionally, the price tag is a common complaint, and one of the higher subscription fees on our list.
For a direct comparison of how RemoFirst stacks up on pricing, support, and country coverage, visit the RemoFirst vs. Oyster page.
Multiplier
Multiplier is a global EOR and payroll platform built for companies that want to scale across multiple markets without the friction of extensive setup. Multiplier supports hiring in 150+ countries, including a strong APAC and growing LATAM presence, and payroll processing in 100+ currencies.
Multiplier heavily emphasizes compliance support and local expertise, and has more than 100 in-house legal and tax experts. Companies can build compliant contracts in just 5 minutes and track employee onboarding steps in-platform, along with expenses, timesheets, and pay incentives.
G2 reviewers mention a confusing UI, payroll delays, and invoice issues as cons. Some users complain about slow response times for country-specific compliance questions and insufficient support when issues become complex.
For a direct comparison, visit the RemoFirst vs. Multiplier page.
Deel
Deel’s EOR solution is a unified HR platform for managing employees in 150+ countries and processing payments in 130+ countries.
Deel specializes in global compliance and localizes contracts in line with each country’s labor laws, including wages, leave, and benefits. They have more than 2,000 in-house legal, HR, and equity experts. Deel’s integration ecosystem is also extensive, connecting with tools like QuickBooks, Slack, and BambooHR.
Pricing is structured across multiple tiers and services, covering hiring, managing, paying, and equipping workers. According to its website, EOR pricing includes Standard and Enterprise tiers starting at USD 599 or USD 899 per employee per month, as well as separate tiers for contractors and additional service packages.
The platform's sheer scope can also overwhelm smaller teams with simpler hiring needs. Visit the RemoFirst vs. Deel page for a direct comparison, or browse Deel's G2 profile to read what current and former users have to say.
Remote
Remote operates under a 100% owned-entity model, which provides a high level of direct accountability.
Remote covers the full employee lifecycle, including compliant, localized contracts, onboarding, flexible benefits administration, and resignation and termination management. It also includes unlimited indemnity coverage and automated protection of company IP as part of its core EOR services.
Background checks, equity solutions, and expert consultations are available as paid add-ons.
Remote reviews on G2 mention payment processing issues and delays, slow response times, and that customer support can involve too many handoffs when issues become complex.
For a side-by-side breakdown, visit the RemoFirst vs. Remote page.
Howdy
Supported by deep regional compliance expertise, Howdy helps companies source and hire engineers and operational talent across Latin America.
What sets Howdy apart is its use of trained psychologists as recruiters, helping identify the right fit for each role. It also operates physical community workspaces (called Howdy Houses) across 10+ LATAM cities and emphasizes long-term development.
Howdy's EOR strength is finding the best technical talent in Latin America. If you need non-engineering roles or coverage outside the region, you'll likely need to look elsewhere. Howdy’s pricing is also typically custom and may include a percentage-based fee per hire.
Howdy’s G2 profile shares some information, but so, far there aren’t any customer reviews.
Compliant and Cost-Effective Hiring in the LATAM Region
Latin America offers strong talent, competitive costs, and time zones that enable convenient collaboration with companies based in the U.S. and Canada.
Utilizing Employer of Record services to hire LATAM talent ensures compliance with country-specific employment laws and expectations, without the time and financial commitment required to open a local entity.
Selecting the EOR that best suits your needs will depend on your team size, hiring goals, budget, and target hiring region(s).
If you’re looking for strong LATAM coverage without the enterprise price tag, RemoFirst offers transparent, flat-rate pricing starting at USD 199 per employee per month — with dedicated account management, full compliance support, and the ability to employ talent in 185+ countries as your team continues to grow.
Book a demo to learn more about how we can help grow your team in LATAM — and around the world.
