Why These Top 10 Australian Companies Outsource to the Philippines

Australia’s ongoing talent shortage causes workforce inefficiencies for 47% of the country’s technical industries. Many Australian companies like Telstra and Canva have tapped offshore Filipino talent to fill essential roles. The Philippines is also one of the best destinations where global enterprises have outsourced since the 1990s. 

If you’re a founder struggling to find, hire, and build your team, business outsourcing to the Philippines is a good option. Here are 10 fast-growing companies in Australia that are outsourcing jobs to Filipinos. You’ll also know the 15 reasons why this approach is gaining momentum. Lastly, we’ll share tips on how you can outsource to maximize your limited resources and achieve your business goals.

10 Examples of Australian Startups Outsourcing to the Philippines

Australian startups that offshore to the Philippines come from various industries like SaaS, marketing, and healthcare, to name a few. Here are some Australian startup outsourcing examples that show the multiple specializations of Filipinos in a wide range of industries.

Ascender HCM

Ascender HCM is an HR and payroll platform that makes it easier for multinational businesses to localize the HR and payroll approach.

Recent milestone: After its acquisition by Ceridian in 2021, Ascender HCM’s parent company has recently made a brand evolution into Dayforce.

With their offshore team in the Philippines, Ascender has a task force in place for their main customer base in the Asia-Pacific. The presence of a Philippine team also enables Ascender to cater to Philippine companies.

DesignCrowd

DesignCrowd is a platform connecting businesses and individuals to design service providers. Through this platform, businesses collaborate with global freelance designers based on their project specifications, budgets, and timelines.

Recent milestone: DesignCrowd raised AUD 10 million to accelerate their DIY platform’s growth, BrandCrowd.

Through offshoring, DesignCrowd saved 78% on labor costs. Their Filipino teams expertly handle customer service, finance, and marketing.

Watch what DesignCrowd’s founder, Guillermo Conde has to say about their offshore team.

Pro tip: Offshoring is a viable alternative to outsourcing because offshore employees directly collaborate with key people in your team. This works well for founders and pioneering teams who wear too many hats and have limited time.

Employment Hero

Employment Hero is a Software as a Service (SaaS) business that empowers small to medium-sized businesses through its HR solutions and apps.

Recent milestone: Employment Hero recently acquired a professional services firm, Employment Innovations. They envision to expand their reach through this merger.

With Australian offshore services from the Philippines, Employment Hero improved customer service support for its various HR apps and solutions. The Filipino customer service team guides app users during onboarding and provides answers to any other problems they encounter.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus makes healthcare more convenient and accessible to its customers. They make it easier to book clinical appointments and access other medical services.

Recent milestone: After recent successes, Eucalyptus is planning to offer an $8 million share sale to its long-term employees.

They hired Filipino remote workers for better patient support. Aside from that, they help with other internal business processes that Eucalyptus needed.

Linktree

Linktree is a martech tool that streamlines the management and discoverability of online content. It does this through the innovative usage of links.

Recent milestone: Linktree has achieved a remarkable 50 million Linkers worldwide.

It’s working with offshore Philippine staff to deliver top-notch customer service. It’s one of the many startups that were propelled to outsource work to the Philippines after Canvas’ success.

The LOTE Agency

An Australian marketing company that outsources work to the Philippines is The LOTE Agency. As the startup continued growing, so did the demand for its services. Hence, a need to work with an offshore company to hire reliable remote Filipino workers.

Their Philippine team supported the in-house team during project launches and marketing campaigns. “The speed of hiring and quality of the talents enable us to keep delivering top-notch service to our clients and communities,” says Chief Operating Officer Brad McCaig.

Recent milestone: Through its partnership with an offshore staffing company, it addressed customer needs and kept up with the demand as the business grew while saving up to 80% in labor costs.

Watch how a Filipino offshore employee delivered consistent results to The LOTE Agency here:

Macquarie

Macquarie is a financial services startup that manages the assets of its clientele. Its diverse experts from varying fields recommend different investment opportunities in various sectors. These include agriculture, real estate, and green investments.

Recent milestone: Macquarie ranked first in the Institutional Investor’s 2024 Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) Regional/Local Broker Rankings.

It outsources both non-technical and technical financial work to Filipino workers to support their financial support services.

Propeller Aero

Propeller Aero is innovating in the civil construction and earthworks industry. They’re known for their innovative use of drones and enterprise IT services.

Recent milestone: Propeller Aero received USD 15.35 million in their most recent round of funding.

Its partnership with a reliable offshore service provider to hire hard-to-fill roles like a geospatial specialist led to 73% cost savings.

SafetyCulture

Another business from the HR niche is SafetyCulture. It is a startup that works with companies to improve employee safety by keeping employers and their offices compliant.

Recent milestone: SafetyCulture has joined Trackhouse Racing’s lineup of Official Workplace Operations Partners.

SafetyCulture has a Manila office, which is the hub for their Australian offshore services. There, they provide both business analysis services and customer service.

Urth

Urth provides sustainably made and sourced camera accessories to its adventurous clientele. As they gained more customers, so did customer demands that they couldn’t fulfill.

Recent milestone: In line with its brand values, Urth gained a B-corp certification, proving its commitment to sustainability.

This opportunity led to its decision to outsource some customer support work to the Philippines. With their Filipino team, customer service became more accessible and improved in timeliness.

15 Reasons Why Australian Companies Outsource to the Philippines

Many Australian startups choose business outsourcing to Filipino professionals. Read on to learn more about why more small businesses grow their remote team in this prime destination.

Impressive Labor Cost Reduction

If you compare salaries between hiring onshore versus offshore, you’ll find that remote workers in the Philippines are more cost-efficient. This is a huge help to startups with limited talent acquisition budgets.

Here’s a comparison of the cost savings when you hire a lean team of four Filipinos delivering outsourced tasks:

Table 1: Comparison of Average Annual Salary Costs (in AUD) Between Australia and the Philippines for Common Outsourced Roles

If you’re hiring for these four roles, you can get a total of AUD 244,016 in annual cost savings. That’s around 61% of total costs reduced each year for these roles.

Related: Offshoring Salary Calculator

Excellent Spoken and Written English Skills

The Philippines ranks 20th globally in English proficiency and 2nd overall in Asia. Hence, English communication with an offshore Filipino team is rarely a problem.

If you hire a Filipino team for a client-facing role, then their English comprehension skills will serve them well. For example, you can confidently assign them tasks in customer service, marketing, and sales. English communication skills are vital in these areas.

Optimal Time Zone Difference

Collaboration with offshore Philippine workers is easy because of the time zone. There’s only a two-hour difference between Australia and the Philippines. This two-hour window makes it easier to schedule and coordinate activities with your Filipino colleagues.

For example, you can schedule company-wide meetings with amenable hours, driving higher attendance. Real-time collaborations between Australian and Filipino employees are possible, too.

Consistent High Performers

A common theme in many growing startups is an increase in customer demands. However, they don’t have enough resources to handle concerns. By outsourcing, they adequately meet customer demands without exhausting the energy of their core employees.

Numerous Cultural Similarities

Both Australians and Filipinos are known for their warmth and openness. Both take work seriously and enjoy their holidays with their loved ones. With these shared values, the cultural compatibility between these two countries makes long-term partnerships a lot easier.

Well-Educated Talents

Philippine universities are often globally recognized for their quality of education. With their educational background, Filipino teams prove workplace readiness, especially for highly technical roles. This applies to roles like accountants and software engineers.

Expanding Markets and Partnerships

By building an offshore team in the Philippines, you’re accessing markets from where this team is based. You create a global team while gaining a foothold to expand operations outside of Australia. By establishing a Philippine team, you’re also gaining entry into the Southeast Asian market.

Reduce Overhead Expense

By outsourcing business processes to the Philippines, you can reduce overhead costs significantly. For example, office rentals in Australia versus the Philippines alone are much higher. Monthly rent for offices averages around AUD 700 to 1,400 per square meter in Australia. On the other hand, in the Philippines, rent is just around AUD 26 per sqm. 

Pro tip: An offshore team can also set up a physical office in Manila, the business hub of the Philippines. If you need help setting up but have no time to do so, reach out to a reputable offshoring partner to back you up.

Shortage of Onshore Labor

Australia’s lack of skilled workers is the reason why BPO companies are popular in the Philippines. If you find difficulties recruiting for highly specialized job roles, outsourcing and offshoring are two solutions.

Improve Scalability

For startups interested in growing out of the bootstrapping stage, outsourcing to the Philippines is beneficial.

By outsourcing non-core processes, you can focus on growing your business. The cost savings after outsourcing make that even more of a possibility. For example, you can put more effort into finding investors, merger negotiations, product launching, rebranding, and more.

Top-notch Data Privacy

Industries like finance and healthcare are commonly victims of cyberattacks. That’s why data privacy measures are integral in all departments and processes.

Philippine BPO companies that work for Australian firms are rigorous in protecting client data. In response, Filipino IT teams are highly trained to comply with international cybersecurity standards and regulations from the start.

There’s also the Philippine Data Privacy Act that protects Australian companies in case of a breach of their confidential data.

Collaborative Work Ethic

The Philippines and Australia share not only cultural but also work ethic similarities. 

Some examples of their similar work cultures would be:

• Welcoming work environments
• Responsible colleagues
• Appreciation for work-life balance
• Professionalism at all times

While Australians have a reputation for deeply focusing on work, Filipinos don’t fall behind either. They’re hardworking and reliable colleagues, which their Australian counterparts very much appreciate.

Minimize Operational Risks

20% of startups fail in the first three years of operations. Any startup planning to scale is sure to encounter different operational risks during expansion.

By outsourcing some tasks to the Philippines, you can scale business operations more efficiently without jeopardizing your business’ finances.

Maintain a Competitive Edge

Lee Kuan Yew, the late Prime Minister known for making modern Singapore the business hub it is today once said, “If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you’re putting yourself out of business.”

For startups that aim to grow, outsourcing is a must. It is no longer an optional business strategy. Since a lot of  Australian businesses are doing it, it’s becoming a part of a startup’s game plan. However, to stay competitive, startups need a formal outsourcing or offshoring plan to keep pace with competitors.

Highly Skilled Employees

The Philippines has a large talent pool of experienced and resilient professionals. A good number of industries that outsource to the Philippines are:

• Banking
• Finance
• Accounting
• Technology
• Sales
• Marketing
• Advertising
• E-commerce
• Customer Service
• Retail

Millions of Filipinos are ready to take on work and provide value to small and medium Australian businesses. The quality of this large talent pool makes the hiring process easier and faster, especially when offshored to the right team.

Related: Offshore Team in the Philippines Gets a High-Growth Company Recognition

Australian Outsourcing to the Philippines Made Better

While outsourcing provides labor stop-gaps, they’re not a long-term solution. With offshoring, you can reach a highly skilled talent pool and maintain consistent cost-effectiveness. Also, Filipinos and Australians have a compatible work culture. Thus, long-term relationships through offshoring are more efficient for both parties.
Are you an Australian startup interested in working with an offshore team? Work with a reliable offshore service provider and get 80% reduced labor costs while working with your Filipino offshore team.