{"id":868937,"date":"2026-08-06T08:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T06:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=868937"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:02:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T08:02:34","slug":"companies-overseas-rushing-to-hire-these-south-africans-saving-on-salaries-by-paying-them-60-less","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business-opinion\/868937\/companies-overseas-rushing-to-hire-these-south-africans-saving-on-salaries-by-paying-them-60-less\/","title":{"rendered":"International companies rushing to hire South Africans \u2013 saving on salaries by paying them 60% less"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is a growing trend among overseas companies seeking remote employees and favouring South Africans for these roles because of their skills and the favourable exchange rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This trend coincides with South Africa\u2019s high unemployment rate, which remains above 32%, which means this trend offers a valuable lifeline for young South Africans looking for employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Job Crystal CEO Sasha Knott said the shift towards remote work after the Covid-19 pandemic has expanded international hiring beyond traditional business process outsourcing (BPO) and call centre roles into professions such as finance, sales, and technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with HOT Business<\/a>, Knott explained that while South Africans are attractive because of the favourable exchange rate between the rand and currencies such as the British pound, the country also offers a highly skilled workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, we\u2019re cheaper because of the conversion between dollars and pounds to rands, but we still have a really good talent pool in South Africa,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott said international employers can reduce employment costs by up to 60% by hiring South Africans remotely.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, she stressed that this does not necessarily mean workers are earning less. \u201cSouth Africans are getting paid more when they\u2019re being paid by a global company,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a South African, they\u2019re earning more, but for an international company, the salary range they would hire for in the UK, for example, would be much higher. So the UK is getting the discount, while South Africans are actually getting paid more than local rates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She described the arrangement as \u201ca win-win\u201d for both employers and employees. She said companies gain access to skilled workers at lower costs while South Africans benefit from higher salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing concerns about worker protections, Knott said many international employers now use an Employer of Record (EOR) model. This allows overseas businesses to hire South Africans without establishing a local company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat an international company does is it hires an EOR like Job Crystal, and it\u2019s able to then pay the regulatory PAYE or tax requirements. That person is still protected by labour law,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott said this represents a significant improvement over earlier remote contracting arrangements, where workers often had fewer legal protections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe employee is not just a contractor like it used to be. They are permanently employed, but they\u2019re contracted out to the international client,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skills international companies are looking for<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a>
Job Crystal CEO Sasha Knott <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

She added that employee benefits, including medical aid and pension contributions, are managed locally through the EOR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe international client chooses which benefits they\u2019re going to pay, but it\u2019s all very South Africa-focused,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a role comes to an end, she said the process follows South African labour legislation. \u201cThere would be a formal restructuring or retrenchment process, just like it does in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott said demand is particularly strong for professionals in sales, finance, and technology. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of demand specifically in sales, particularly lead generation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinancially, we use the same accounting systems worldwide, and technology is obviously global, so it\u2019s much easier when you\u2019re looking for a developer or a cloud engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said South Africa\u2019s education system and business expertise make local professionals attractive to international employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur business acumen and our education are really high for those skills, so it works really well for international companies and for South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott also argued that the trend could help groups that often struggle to find work locally. \u201cMost of the time, global companies are hiring either the youth, those in their twenties, or the older generation in their fifties and sixties,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While acknowledging concerns that overseas hiring could worsen local skills shortages, Knott said many professionals eventually return to South African employers after gaining valuable international experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knott added that South Africa is currently becoming a more attractive destination for remote hiring than several other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen a lot more jobs coming to South Africa away from India, Pakistan and Poland. At the moment, where we are sitting, it\u2019s looking really good for South Africa,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is a growing trend among overseas companies seeking remote employees and favouring South Africans for these roles because of their skills and the favourable exchange rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":868972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"failed","_sma_x_autopost_error":"Instagram publishing failed: Instagram returned HTTP 400: Media ID is not available","_sma_x_post_id":"2085257330229223551","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2168173720669694","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25014,18386,3651],"class_list":["post-868937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-opinion","tag-job-crystal","tag-remote-work","tag-unemployment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868937"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":869127,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868937\/revisions\/869127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}