1. Understand the Core Components of ROI

Before calculating ROI, it’s essential to define the elements that drive it. For engineering and product teams, the primary ROI factors are:

  • Total cost of hiring and retaining talent
  • Productivity and delivery velocity
  • Time to hire
  • Quality and maintainability of output
  • Risk reduction and long-term stability

Nearshore staffing in Brazil affects all of these areas, often in ways that improve both financial and operational outcomes.

2. Compare Total Cost of Talent

The most direct part of the ROI calculation comes from comparing total employment costs.

In-house U.S. hiring includes:

  • Salary
  • Payroll taxes
  • Benefits and insurance
  • Equipment
  • Office or remote infrastructure
  • Recruiting costs
  • Replacement and turnover costs

For a mid-level U.S. engineer, these combined expenses typically range from 180,000 to 220,000 dollars per year.

Nearshore staffing in Brazil includes:

  • A transparent monthly rate from your nearshore partner
  • No overhead for benefits or payroll taxes
  • No recruiting fees
  • No HR or compliance burden
  • Scalable team model, reducing replacement and turnover costs

Depending on the seniority and stack, Brazilian nearshore engineers often cost 40 to 60 percent less than U.S. full-time equivalents. That reduction alone dramatically shifts ROI.

3. Factor in Time to Hire

Hiring in the U.S. can take months, especially for high-demand roles like senior backend engineers, DevOps specialists, or data scientists. Long hiring cycles delay delivery and increase opportunity cost.

Nearshore staffing partners in Brazil typically fill roles in days or weeks, not months. Faster onboarding leads directly to:

  • Earlier productivity
  • Shorter project timelines
  • Quicker iteration
  • Faster delivery of features to market

Time saved converts directly into ROI.

4. Evaluate Productivity and Output Quality

ROI is not just about cost. It is also about how fast and effectively the team produces results.

Brazilian engineers have strong technical foundations, high adaptability, and familiarity with agile workflows. Because they operate in U.S.-aligned time zones, teams collaborate in real time. This reduces friction and eliminates overnight delays that offshore teams often struggle with.

The result is a consistent improvement in:

  • Daily communication
  • Task handoffs
  • Sprint velocity
  • Code quality
  • Long-term maintainability

Higher productivity at a lower total cost increases ROI exponentially.

5. Account for Risk and Stability

A hidden cost in U.S. hiring is turnover. Replacing a single engineer can cost 50 percent of their annual compensation when accounting for recruiting, onboarding, lost momentum, and institutional knowledge drain.

Nearshore teams in Brazil often show higher loyalty and long-term retention, especially when hired through structured staffing partners. This stability strengthens ROI through:

  • Lower replacement costs
  • Reduced downtime
  • More consistent delivery
  • Stronger long-term team culture

6. Calculate Your ROI Using a Simple Formula

A straightforward way to calculate ROI is:

ROI = (Financial Gain from Nearshore Model - Total Nearshore Cost) / Total Nearshore Cost

Where Financial Gain includes:

  • Salary savings
  • Reduced overhead
  • Faster delivery times
  • Lower turnover expenses
  • Improved productivity

When applied to real-world data, companies often discover that nearshore staffing in Brazil delivers two to three times greater ROI than hiring in-house engineers in the United States.

Comparison Table: Nearshore Brazil vs. In-house U.S.

7. Go Beyond Cost. Think Long-term Impact.

ROI is more than numbers. It is about growth momentum. Nearshore staffing in Brazil provides long-term strategic advantages:

  • Access to a huge pool of qualified engineers
  • Time zone alignment that accelerates delivery
  • Lower operational stress for U.S. teams
  • Ability to scale without complexity
  • Strong cultural compatibility

These benefits compound over time, making nearshore teams not only more cost-effective but more competitive.

Final Thought

Choosing between in-house hiring in the U.S. and nearshore staffing in Brazil is not just a financial decision. It is a decision about speed, scalability, and long-term strategy. When you measure all the variables, nearshore staffing does not just reduce costs. It boosts output, reduces risk, and strengthens the company’s ability to move fast in the market.

If you want to calculate ROI tailored to your team and projects, the best next step is a personalized assessment.

Book a discovery session here!