Who Uses Offshore Staff — and Why

4 days ago

3 min read

By Jay, Founder of CoreEdge Solutions

When I tell people what CoreEdge does, I sometimes get a cautious look. "Offshore staff? Is that something a company like mine actually does?"

The honest answer is yes, and it has been for more than 30 years. Some of the most recognized names in American business built offshore teams long before "remote work" was a common phrase. Today the practice is so widespread that many of us interact with offshore professionals every week without giving it a second thought.

This article looks at who uses offshore staff, why they do it, and why the same advantages are now within reach for small businesses and associations.

This started in the 1990s, not last year

Offshore staffing went mainstream nearly three decades ago, led by household-name American companies.

1997: General Electric. GE set up GE Capital International Services in Gurgaon, India, to handle back-office work such as processing car loans and credit card transactions. That operation became Genpact, spun off in 2005, and today employs more than 125,000 people.
1998–1999: Microsoft. Microsoft opened its India Development Center in Hyderabad, starting with a 36-person team. It was only the company's second product development center outside the US.
2000: GE again. GE opened the John F. Welch Technology Centre in Bengaluru, its first and largest integrated R&D center outside the US, now home to thousands of engineers and scientists.

What began as an experiment became standard practice. Today, more than 1,700 global capability centres operate in India alone, employing about 1.9 million people for companies headquartered around the world.

Who relies on offshore teams today

Some of the most trusted brands in finance, technology, and retail run large teams outside the US.

JPMorgan Chase (Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad): teams that support the firm's technology and business operations globally.
Walmart (Bengaluru, Chennai): technology and capability centers, including a Chennai site opened in 2025 for 4,500 employees.
Microsoft (Hyderabad): product development, since 1998.
General Electric (Bengaluru): research and engineering.

The Philippines tells a similar story. Its IT and business process sector, which handles customer service, back-office, and admin work for companies worldwide, earned more than $40 billion in 2025 and is projected to employ nearly 2 million Filipinos by the end of 2026.

Why organizations do it

Cost is part of the story, but it is no longer the whole story. Deloitte's 2024 Global Outsourcing Survey of more than 500 executives found that skilled talent and agility now sit alongside cost reduction as key drivers. Eighty percent plan to maintain or increase their outsourcing investment.

In practice, the reasons come down to four things:

Cost. CoreEdge clients save an average of 60% compared with a domestic hire, which turns one budgeted position into real capacity.
Talent. Offshore markets offer deep pools of college-educated professionals experienced in CRM platforms, accounting, customer service, and marketing.
Coverage. Teams in other time zones can handle work overnight, extend service hours, and cover for staff on vacation or leave.
Focus. When routine work is handled, in-house teams can spend their time on clients, members, and growth.

Not just for the Fortune 500

For years, building an offshore team meant opening an office overseas, which only large corporations could justify. That has changed.

Small businesses are already outsourcing at scale. A Clutch survey found that 90% of small business owners planned to outsource some tasks, most often IT, marketing, finance, and customer support. Their top reasons were flexible resources and time savings.

The missing piece for smaller organizations has been access: knowing where to find reliable people and how to bring them on smoothly. That is the gap a staffing partner fills. Instead of building a foreign office, you get a dedicated professional who works your hours, uses your systems, and becomes part of your team.

Associations and not-for-profits benefit in particular. Lean staffs, tight budgets, and seasonal peaks such as renewals and annual conferences make flexible, cost-effective support especially valuable.

The bottom line

Offshore staffing is not a shortcut or an experiment. It is a proven model trusted by GE, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and Walmart for decades, and it is now practical for organizations of any size.

At CoreEdge Solutions, we match businesses and associations with dedicated offshore professionals for data cleanup, CRM updates, appointment setting, customer research, administrative support, and holiday coverage. Our clients save an average of 60% compared with a domestic hire, and our people are ready to start now.

If you have wondered whether offshore support could work for your organization, I would welcome a 15-minute conversation. No commitment, just a clear picture of how it works.

Jay Founder, CoreEdge Solutions service@CoreEdgeSolutions.net | 1-312-809-5044