Deciding on how much to pay your Filipino outsource worker might seem like a complicated topic to think about (let alone talk about), but in reality, it isn’t.
Filipino remote workers are highly flexible when it comes to how much their salary will be. They can easily be negotiated with during the hiring process. Especially if you’re a startup company, your Filipino job applicants are going to be completely understanding and supportive of you. As long as you pay them properly and on time, you won’t have a problem.
That’s why business owners rarely hesitate to give their outsource workers a bonus here and there—because their Filipino employees are a delight to work with.
There are several factors to consider when finalizing your Filipino outsource worker’s salary. This guide is here to help you do just that.
One of the most popular remote hiring techniques is having a one-month trial period, where you and your new Filipino outsource worker evaluate if you work well together.
Once you’ve gone through the recruitment process and found a great employee, the first thing you’ll want to do is have a trial period. This is one month of paid work, after which you evaluate if you want to keep the employee on board the company or try and find someone else.
The trial period allows you to see for yourself the skills your employee mentioned in their resume, cover letter, and interview. It protects you from hiring someone and discovering that they’re not a great fit with the company. It also allows the employee to see if he or she enjoys working with you before they commit long-term.
A few tips about the trial period:
To answer this question, you need to first consider what the nature of the job is.
In fact, many writers, graphic designers, and software developers prefer being paid this way.
Having to mind the clock can affect their productivity; for instance, a part-time graphic designer might feel pressured to deliver output every shift, and they might end up rushing the design process just so they finish within four hours.
Some writers are given a rate per article and a required number of articles per week. For example, 3 articles per day for $5 an article allows a writer to earn $300 a month. Because the writer isn’t conscious of how many hours they spend on the article, they can focus on researching and writing instead.
This scheme doesn’t always work, however; our writer here at AwesomeOutsourcing used to work as an editor where they got paid based on the number of articles they edited.
The company kept hiring editors to fill in shifts (they wanted at least one editor to be online at any given moment) until, one day, they realized there was no longer enough work to go around. Their editors were making below minimum wage and way below what their agreed-upon monthly salary was. In the end, they either had to let go of other editors or find a different payment scheme so everyone could make a living wage.
Professionals like virtual assistants, customer service representatives, social media managers, and human resource specialists often work during business hours. Plus, their outputs differ daily, which means it’s not practical to try and pay them based on output.
One advantage of by-the-hour payments is that you can require your employee to use a time-tracking app. Time-tracking apps don’t only count the hours for you, they also capture screenshots of your employee’s computer, so you can make sure they’re working while they’re on the clock.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you and up to the demands of the job. You can always ask your employee if they have a preference (some creative workers still want to get paid by the hour) if you’re unsure which option is best for them.
Regardless of what you choose, the important thing is you make sure your Filipino outsource worker gets paid a living wage, so they’re motivated to stay with your company and perform to the best of their abilities.
Since your employee is from the Philippines, you don’t need to pay them American-level salaries. After all, that defeats the purpose of outsourcing.
The Philippines’ national minimum wage (as of August 2018) is $288.91 per month or 15,360 PHP. This rate goes down depending on which region of the country you are. Note that this rate is for entry-level jobs.
Here’s how much the minimum wage is in popular cities in the Philippines:
| City | Daily Minimum Wage | Monthly Minimum Wage |
| Metro Manila | $9.57 | $296.67 |
| Cebu | $7.22 | $223.82 |
| Davao City | $6.92 | $214.52 |
| Iloilo | $6.83 | $211.73 |
| Iligan | $6.32 | $195.92 |
| Baguio | $5.98 | $185.38 |
Deciding on a salary depends on how much your budget is and how much your employee’s job experience warrants.
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Most job seekers who are fresh graduates or have 0-3 years of experience are fine with a job that pays $280 to $350 a month. These are for general virtual assistant jobs that don’t require highly specialized skills such as coding or graphic design.
For remote workers with experience longer than 3 years, $400 to $480 is a good starting salary.
To get a better idea of how much job applicants will ask for, here is the list of salaries by job role from Onlinejobs.ph.
Note: Salaries were computed using a $1 = 53 PHP conversion rate.
| Job Title | Average Monthly Salary |
| Accountant | $669.81 |
| Amazon Expert | $349.06 |
| Content Writer | $584.91 |
| Copywriter | $783.02 |
| Customer Service | $556.60 |
| Data Entry Specialist | $424.53 |
| eBay Listing | $415.09 |
| E-commerce Expert | $547.17 |
| Facebook Marketing | $603.77 |
| Google Adwords | $943.40 |
| Graphic Design | $603.77 |
| Infusionsoft Specialist | $603.77 |
| IOS Developer | $877.36 |
| Lead Generation | $537.74 |
| Magento Developer | $764.15 |
| Marketing Specialist | $679.25 |
| Photoshop Expert | $556.60 |
| PHP Developer | $924.53 |
| PPC Expert | $801.89 |
| Project Manager | $783.02 |
| Real Estate Virtual Assistant | $688.68 |
| Researcher | $443.40 |
| Sales Representative | $556.60 |
| SEO Expert | $566.04 |
| Shopify Developer | $518.87 |
| Social Media Marketing | $556.60 |
| Video Editor | $613.21 |
| Virtual Assistant | $481.13 |
| Web Designer | $613.21 |
| Web Developer | $688.68 |
| Webmaster | $537.74 |
| WordPress Developer | $669.81 |
Just to be clear: you do not have to pay for employee benefits. It’s your choice whether or not you want to pay for benefits in addition to your employee’s salary.
…but should you?
In the Philippines, the employers pay for regular employees’ benefits—that’s for all employees that have been with the company for six months and counting. They even do all the paperwork involved. But that’s because they’re mandated by law.
For remote business setups, it’s entirely up to you. Of course, you can’t deny that paying for benefits is a surefire way to keep your employee motivated to work for you. For only around $50 a month, you can ensure employee loyalty and help your Filipino outsource workers prepare for their future.
Here’s the breakdown of how much benefits in the Philippines are:
| Salary | Social Security System | PhilHealth | PAG-IBIG | Total |
| $300.00 | $22.11 | $4.00 | $6.00 | $332.11 |
| $350.00 | $25.80 | $4.00 | $7.00 | $386.80 |
| $400.00 | $29.48 | $4.00 | $8.00 | $441.48 |
| $450.00 | $33.17 | $4.00 | $9.00 | $496.17 |
| $500.00 | $36.85 | $6.00 | $10.00 | $552.85 |
| $550.00 | $40.54 | $6.00 | $11.00 | $607.54 |
| $600.00 | $44.22 | $6.00 | $12.00 | $662.22 |
In the Philippines, there’s what they call the ’13th-month’ pay. It’s not exactly a bonus in that a bonus is voluntary while the 13th-month pay is required by Philippine labor laws.
Again, you are not required to pay for this. However, it’s another way to make your employee happy. And, considering how much you’re saving on overhead costs, giving them a once-a-year “bonus” doesn’t sound so bad.
According to Philippine law, employees who worked at least one month with the company by December is entitled to an additional payment by December 24th. Here’s how it’s computed:
(Monthly salary x Months worked) / 12 = 13th month pay
So, for instance, if your employee earns $450 a month and was hired in August, you pay them $187.5 before Christmas. Here’s how that was computed:
(450 x 5) / 12 = 187.5
Paypal is the default method for sending money. It’s available in most countries, and registering an account is exceptionally easy. But that doesn’t mean you can’t consider other options.
The problem with Paypal and other money transfer options is that their conversion rates differ from mid-market conversion rates. Here’s what we mean:
The actual conversion rate (as of August 12, 2018) is 1 USD = 53.21 PHP.
Paypal’s conversion rate is 1 USD = 50.9644 PHP.
That means if you send $350 (18,621.75 PHP) via Paypal, your employee is only going to receive 17,837.54 PHP.
Obviously, the higher the amount you send, the higher the amount your employee loses to Paypal. For instance, if you send them $500 (26,602 PHP), they’re only going to receive 25,482.20 PHP. That’s $22.40 lost—and twenty dollars means a lot to a Filipino.
If you really want your employee to receive the full amount they’re due, you’re going to have to pay extra. That’s on top of the actual fees you pay to transfer money.
Fortunately, there are other ways to send money to the Philippines. Here’s a comparison table of the most popular payment methods according to TimeDoctor:
| Transfer Method | Stated fees to send $1000 USD | Hidden currency conversion cost | Total cost | Time for transfer to arrive |
| TransferWise | $10.92 | $0.00 | $10.92 | 1-2 days |
| Sharemoney | $3.00 | $11.00 | $14.00 | Minutes |
| Payoneer | $3.00 | $28.00 | $31.00 | 3-5 days |
| Western Union | $8.00 | $28.00 | $36.00 | Minutes |
| Xoom | $8.00 | $29.00 | $37.00 | Minutes |
| Skrill | $14.00 | $50.00 | $64.00 | 3-5 days |
| Paypal | $19.63 | $44.81 | $64.44 | 3-5 days |
When outsourcing Filipinos first gained popularity, it was seen primarily as a way for businesses to hire cheap labor and earn more money. Business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country didn’t help improve that idea; most Filipino BPO workers were underpaid, not getting enough sleep, and had steadily declining health.
Several years and many initiatives to protect workers later, and the Philippines has become one of the top countries to outsource business processes.
Filipinos have established themselves as more than a means to cost-cutting. It’s true that the Philippines still has one of the lowest minimum wages in the world (only $0.5 per hour!), but Filipinos get hired for more than that. They’re also known for their great English speaking skills, their hardworkingness and honesty, and their efficiency in learning new skills.
Many business owners have already shared their success stories about how their Filipino outsource workers helped their businesses succeed. Now, it’s your turn.
Hiring a Filipino outsource worker is as easy as making an Onlinejobs.ph account and posting a job ad. In a few months’ time, you’ll be wanting to tell us all about your hiring journey—and we can’t wait! Drop us a comment below to let others know how your business started thriving thanks to your Filipino workers.
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