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Benefits of Hiring in Latin America: A Complete Guide for U.S. Companies
February 18, 2026
U.S. companies are hitting walls they didn't see coming. The talent you need isn't just expensive, it's unavailable.
Latin America hiring has become the go-to solution for companies facing U.S. talent shortages. The region offers time zone alignment with North American teams, a deep pool of technical professionals, and the ability to scale teams without the budget constraints that come with domestic hiring.
But hiring in LATAM requires understanding more than just the cost savings. You need to know the legal requirements, the actual risks involved, and how to avoid the mistakes that derail companies new to international hiring.
This guide covers practical steps to hire LATAM talent successfully. Check it out
The shift toward Latin America hiring solves problems that U.S. markets can't fix anymore. Companies compete for the same small pool of available talent, driving salaries up while timelines stretch out. A developer role that should take six weeks to fill now can take months.
Remote work changed the calculation entirely, and Latin America solves problems that other regions don’t:
Teams already coordinate across San Francisco, Austin, and New York, adding Mexico City or Buenos Aires to that mix doesn't change daily operations.
Cost matters, but it's not the whole story. Companies that treat LATAM hiring purely as a cost-cutting exercise miss out on strategic advantages.
When your LATAM teammates operate within 0-3 hours of U.S. time zones, you maintain the rhythm of real-time collaboration that makes remote teams effective. Problems are solved during the workday, and decisions are made in real-time conversations.
LATAM's geographic proximity matters in ways that go beyond. Shared hemispheres mean you're working with similar business calendars and holiday schedules instead of navigating completely different rhythms.
Latin America has talent at scale. Brazil hosts over 500,000 software developers according to data, estimating the country's total tech workforce at approximately 760,000 professionals. Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile each maintain thriving tech ecosystems with tens of thousands of professionals across engineering, product, design, and operations roles.
This depth extends beyond engineering; you can find experienced product managers, UX designers, data analysts, financial operations specialists, and marketing professionals working throughout the region. Many gained experience at regional offices of companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon before transitioning to smaller companies or startups.
The seniority myth deserves clearing up, too. Senior engineers with 8-12 years of experience building complex systems exist throughout the region. Technical leads who've scaled teams and architected platforms are available for hire. The assumption that you can only find junior talent here is outdated and contradicts the actual market.
A full-stack engineer in the U.S. costs $160K-$200K in major tech hubs, while a comparable engineer in Latin America costs $70K-$80K. That's market-based pricing that reflects the local cost of living while still providing competitive salaries in their local context.
Your budget for three U.S. engineers funds five LATAM engineers. That's faster development cycles, capacity for simultaneous projects, and bandwidth for that internal tool sitting in your backlog for six months.
The strategic tradeoffs change in this situation. You hire the senior engineer and still have budget for a mid-level person, and you can optimize for the right team composition instead of just what fits.
Cultural alignment is seen as a challenge, but it actually works in your favor. Latin American work culture emphasizes collaboration and team cohesion, which fits naturally with how most U.S. companies already operate remotely. The communication style prioritizes clarity and relationship-building over aggressive confrontation. Most U.S. teams find this easier to work with than more adversarial corporate cultures.
Every hiring market has challenges, and LATAM is no exception. The difference is whether you understand these challenges before they become problems, and how you overcome them. Here are the main ones:
Employment law can change from country to country in Latin America. Brazil's codes differ from Mexico's, which differ from Argentina's.
One of the main risks is in contracts and how to procedure them. If you hire someone as an independent contractor but treat them like an employee (setting their hours, providing equipment, directing daily work), you're potentially violating labor laws. Countries like Brazil have particularly strict rules about this, and penalties can include back-payment of benefits plus fines.
The solution can involve either establishing a legal entity in each country (expensive and complex) or working with partners like Athyna, who handle compliance while you direct the work.
Finding quality candidates is harder when you don't know the local market. U.S. recruiters understand which companies have strong engineering cultures and which universities produce solid graduates, but that local knowledge doesn't transfer to Latin America automatically.
Regional knowledge when hiring in LATAM makes the difference. Partners who work with LATAM talent full-time know which companies develop talent well, which bootcamps produce work-ready graduates, and how to assess technical skills in the local context. They've built networks over the years and can identify strong candidates efficiently.
Technical assessments need to account for regional differences, too. A developer who learned primarily in Spanish might take longer to discuss system architecture in English, but that says nothing about their ability to design it. Good vetting focuses on what candidates can build, not how quickly they articulate it in their second language.
English proficiency varies by candidate. Some LATAM professionals communicate at native-level fluency, while others need more time in verbal discussions but handle written work without issues.
Most communication problems don't come from cultural differences, as everyone assumes, but they come from unclear expectations and assumptions that everyone interprets requirements the same way.
That is why language assessment has to be part of your vetting process to make sure the communication matches your style.
The bigger risk here is assuming new LATAM hires will absorb how your team works without actually telling them the expectations. Structured onboarding fixes this. Pair new hires with experienced team members who explicitly teach them how your team operates, document your actual workflows, communication expectations, and decision-making processes. Schedule regular check-ins during the first few weeks to surface confusion before it becomes embedded problems.
Companies repeat the same mistakes when hiring in Latin America. Knowing what goes wrong helps you avoid it.
The hiring process for LATAM talent doesn't fundamentally change. You still need to define the role, vet candidates, interview, and onboard. What changes is the employment structure you use to make it legal and compliant.
You have two main options for hiring in Latin America:
Both options solve the same core problem: hiring internationally without setting up legal entities in multiple countries.
Employment law complexity varies by country. Here's what you need to know at a high level before diving deeper.
Payroll, taxes, and benefits: Employers in LATAM typically handle income tax withholding, social security contributions, health insurance contributions, and sometimes pension fund contributions. The specific requirements and rates vary by country. Brazil has some of the highest employer contribution rates in the region. Mexico's are lower but still substantial.
IP protection and contracts: Employment contracts need to include intellectual property assignment clauses that make clear the company owns work product created during employment. Different countries have different default rules about IP ownership, so explicit contracts matter.
Most companies handle this through Employer of Record services or by working with platforms that manage compliance as part of their offering. Trying to become an expert in Colombian labor law yourself usually doesn't make sense unless you're planning to open a formal office there.
Finding and evaluating LATAM talents requires the right tools. Here's how different options compare.
Job boards like LinkedIn or regional platforms give you direct access to candidate pools. You post the role, review applications, and control the entire selection process.
Here, the workload is also real. You're screening hundreds of applications from candidates, including technical skills, cultural fit, and more. This works if you have an established recruiting team with LATAM experience. Most U.S. companies hiring in the region for the first time get buried.
Marketplaces connect you with pre-vetted talent pools. Candidates have already been screened for technical skills and English proficiency before you see their profiles.
Employment logistics stay in your hands, too. You still might need legal entities in each country, payroll systems that handle local tax withholding, and benefits administration that complies with regional labor laws. The marketplace found you good candidates, but you're still building the infrastructure to employ them legally.
Full-service partners like Athyna handle everything from sourcing to compliance.
Here at Athyna, we maintain networks of vetted professionals, match candidates to your requirements, manage all compliance and payroll, and employ the talent while you work with them as part of your team. We also maintain a close relationship with both of you in an ongoing employment system to make sure everyone is aligned and happy.
This works when you want to build teams without becoming an expert in international employment law. You're focused on your product and business, and we’re focused on making LATAM hiring work legally and efficiently.
Want to see how it works? Contact our team.
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Digital Strategist at Athyna, aka the SEO girl.
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Timeline depends on the role and your process. For standard technical roles, expect 3-6 weeks from the start of the search to offer acceptance. In Athyna, because we maintain pre-vetted talent pools, we start matching you with candidates in days.
English proficiency varies by candidate, not by country. Many LATAM technical professionals have strong English skills from years of working with international teams, studying abroad, or simply using English documentation in their work. This is why language assessment should be part of your vetting process, not an assumption you make about the whole region.
Software engineering roles (frontend, backend, full-stack, mobile) work particularly well. Product management, UX/UI design, data analysis, and DevOps roles are also common. Finance and accounting operations roles are growing. Customer support roles work well for companies serving Spanish-speaking markets. Generally, any role that can be done remotely and doesn't require constant in-person presence in U.S. offices is viable.
The same way they manage any remote employees, with a few adjustments. Clear communication about expectations and deliverables is essential. Regular 1-on-1s and team meetings maintain connection. Using collaboration tools (Slack, Zoom, project management software) keeps everyone aligned.
Setting up payroll for remote employees in Latin America requires complying with each country's tax withholding, social security contributions, and benefits requirements. Each country has different rates and regulations. Most companies use Employer of Record services or platforms like Athyna to handle payroll setup and ongoing processing. These partners manage local tax compliance, statutory benefits, payment processing in local currency, and year-end tax documentation.
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