GrowTeams is a full-service talent agency and Employer of Record that places senior South African professionals with global businesses at half the cost of a local hire.
# Like a salary . Just smaller .
There's no upfront recruitment fee. Once you've chosen someone, a single monthly invoice covers your hire's pay plus our managed service. Every hire starts with a trial period so both sides are sure of the fit before locking it in.
[See your savings](savings-calculator)
[Talk to us](contact)
How our fees work
## Nothing buried, nothing upfront.
### Zero fees until you hire
Getting started costs you nothing. There's no upfront recruitment fee, because we back our own process in finding you the right match. If we don't, you walk away without any penalty. We also believe in the importance of Ai skills in the workforce, so Ai training is our investment in your hire, free-of-charge.
### One simple monthly payment
Once you've hired, a single invoice each month covers your hire's salary plus our fee. The same clear split every month for a full EOR service running quietly behind your hire: contracts, cross-border pay run, tax, HR and the legal risk of employing in another country. Assemble that yourself and it's several providers and a lot more overhead.
Inside the invoice
## 75% of your monthly payment goes to your hire.
The bulk of your money buys talent, not overhead. Three-quarters of every invoice is your hire's own salary; a lean 25% covers everything offshore. Pick a role below and see the breakdown.
Choose a role
Your indicative monthly invoice
£0
- Recruitment & Ai training free £0
- Your hire's salary 75% £0
- Our managed service 22% £0
- Forex spread 3% £0
Costs and amounts are non-binding estimates based on averages.
What our margin covers
## The 22% we retain works harder than it looks .
- Compliant contracts, with GrowTeams as Employer of Record
- Monthly payroll, tax and cross-border payments, handled
- Hardware management, time-off tracking and HR support
- International compliance, kept current as the rules change
- Forex, legal and employment risk, carried by us
- Ai training for efficient use of modern tools, free of charge
Why it costs less
## Lower cost, not lower calibre.
When senior talent costs this much less, the fair question is what you're giving up. The honest answer: nothing that matters. South African salaries are lower, in line with the country's lower cost of living.
Compare costs for:
### Local hiring
- Base salary £0
- Benefits & NI £0
- Office & payroll overhead £0
Your estimated monthly cost
£0
Upfront recruitment fee
£0
### GrowTeams
- Salary, benefits, tax and our fee on one invoice
- Managed service, EOR and compliant contracts
- HR, payroll, payments handled; no hidden costs
Your estimated monthly cost
£0
Upfront recruitment fee
free
You could save **£0** a month — **0%** less. And **£0** before day one.
Save with remote hires
## Roles that would cost £50–70K $65–90K locally, now within reach at £25–40K $32–52K .
Software DeveloperStarting
from£2,950$3,950 /mo
Executive AssistantStarting
from£2,100$2,800 /mo
Ai SpecialistStarting
from£3,400$4,500 /mo
Founder's AssociateStarting
from£2,200$2,900 /mo
Project ManagerStarting
from£2,300$3,050 /mo
Financial ControllerStarting
from£2,500$3,300 /mo
The bit nobody explains
## What Employer of Record actually means .
It's a term you'll meet everywhere and see defined almost nowhere, so here it is plainly. An Employer of Record (EOR) is the company whose name sits on the employment contract, which means it carries the payroll, the tax and the legal consequences, while you direct the work exactly as you would with a local hire.
You are still the boss
Your hire signs with GrowTeams (Pty) Ltd, our South African entity, so the contract, the payslip, the statutory contributions and any termination are ours to administer and ours to answer for. You set the priorities, the working hours and the performance bar, and the person turns up to your stand-up like anybody else you've hired. Nothing about the arrangement is visible in the day-to-day, which is rather the point.
The right classification
Some of your hires should be employees, others contractors. We work out which one the role genuinely is and issue the contract that matches it, because getting this wrong is the expensive part. Engaging someone as a contractor when the relationship is really employment is a well-documented exposure to back taxes, statutory contributions and penalties, in South Africa as in your country. That determination is our job, and the consequence of it is on our balance sheet.
What it replaces
Your alternatives are more risky and costly than working with an EOR. Hiring directly in South Africa without a local entity there can create a Permanent Establishment, exposing your business to South African corporate tax. You could register a South African entity of your own, then maintain local payroll, tax registration, employment contracts and labour-law compliance in an unfamiliar jurisdiction. Or it's a direct transfer to a "freelancer" and a hope that nobody looks closely, which is not a plan.
For your compliance team
## A clear , three-party engagement .
Behind the simple monthly invoice sits a clear structure. You sign a service agreement with **GrowTeams Ltd** covering our managed services. Your hire is separately engaged by **GrowTeams (Pty) Ltd** in South Africa, as a permanent employee or contractor depending on the role. The hire works full-time on your tasks, reports to your team, and integrates with your tools — exactly like an in-house hire, while we carry the employment, payroll, tax and compliance between the GrowTeams entities. One relationship for you, and the cross-border complexity stays on our side.
You
Client
Global business
Service Agreement
English law governs
Your contracted partner
GrowTeams Ltd
Isle of Man · Co. No. 138687C
Direct Engagement
SA law governs
Your hire
Candidate
Engaged by GrowTeams (Pty) Ltd, SA · Reg. 2022/379563/07
### Who does what
Pay, tax & social contributionsGrowTeams (Pty) Ltd - monthly in ZAR, under SA law
Day-to-day work directionYou - like any in-house hire
HR, time off, performance managementGrowTeams handles, in partnership with you
Engagement liabilitySits with GrowTeams - not with you
Service contract jurisdictionEnglish law (GrowTeams Ltd is Isle of Man-registered)
Data handlingUK GDPR & POPIA aligned
This is a high-level summary of our standard engagement model. Your service agreement defines the binding terms. Procurement teams can request a redacted contract template via [our contact page](/contact).
Cost and Fee FAQ
## Questions clients ask about our fees .
### What does an Employer of Record do?
An Employer of Record (EOR) is the company whose name sits on the employment contract. We engage your hire through GrowTeams (Pty) Ltd, our South African entity, so payroll, tax, statutory contributions and the legal risk of employing in another country are ours to carry. You direct the work, hours and priorities exactly as you would with a local hire.
### What does the monthly invoice include?
Everything. Roughly 75% is your hire's salary, 22% is our managed service covering contracts, payroll, tax, HR and compliance, and 3% covers the forex spread on the cross-border payments we make. Recruitment and Ai training are free. There are no separate placement fees or surprise add-ons, just one predictable amount each month in your currency.
### How much does an Employer of Record cost in South Africa?
Through GrowTeams, a senior hire costs from £1,900 a month (Social Media Manager) up to £6,200 (Chief Financial Officer), or roughly $2,700 to $8,200 in USD. That is the all-in estimated figure: salary, our 22% managed service and forex on a single invoice, with no upfront recruitment fee. Use our [savings calculator](/savings-calculator) for a role-by-role breakdown.
### What does the 22% managed-service fee cover?
Compliant contracts with GrowTeams as Employer of Record, monthly payroll and cross-border payments, tax, hardware management, time-off tracking and HR support, with international compliance kept current as the rules change. It also carries the forex, legal and employment risk on our balance sheet, and includes Ai training for every hire at no charge.
### Why not just set up our own South African entity?
You could, but you would then maintain local payroll, tax registration, employment contracts and labour-law compliance in an unfamiliar jurisdiction. Hiring directly without an entity risks creating a Permanent Establishment and exposure to South African corporate tax, while paying a "freelancer" informally invites misclassification penalties. An EOR gives you the hire without any of that.
### Are there any upfront or hidden fees?
No upfront recruitment fee: you pay nothing until your chosen hire starts. The monthly invoice is the full cost, with no hidden add-ons. Every engagement begins with a trial period, and if the fit is not right, you walk away penalty-free. Ending a longer engagement simply follows the notice terms in your service agreement.