Employer How To's: How do I best choose the location of my worker?

It's important to understand how the location of your worker affects the speed, qualify and cost of your project so you can choose the best location for your needs.

(Note: the names of the categories below assume you are an employer from the United States, since that's the country where most employers are from. However, the concepts are similar for employers in all countries.)

1. On-shore: (United States)
   
   • Pros:
     • Time synchronization: You share the same time-zone, so they are working when you are working.
     • Communication: You share a common culture which makes communication of abstract concepts easier, quicker and more accurate. You are both native English speakers which minimizes the chance of delays due to language miscommunication.
     • Legal: Strong intellectual property laws and non-disclosure agreement protection mean that the worker cannot disclose your secrets without catastrophic consequences (i.e. enforceable IP laws).  This allows you to give them confidential work.
   • Cons:
     • Most expensive: $45 - $85 / hour
   • When to use it:
     Ideal for your core business, your "secret sauce" and anything involving intellectual property that you need to keep secret.   Also ideal for very complex or time sensitive projects where communication is critical.
2. Near-shore (Canada, Ireland, Philippines, South America, etc.)
   • Pros and cons:
     Similar to on-shore, but with some additional cost savings. Prices are typically $25 - $45 / hour
3. Off-shore (Romania, India, Bulgaria, Pakistan, etc.)
   • Pros:
     • Cost: Lowest and cheapest option. Typically $10 - $35 / hour
   • Cons:
     • Legal: No enforceable intellectual property and non-disclosure agreement laws. As such a worker can resell or redistribute the work they do for you to others, and not suffer any legal consequences.
       
       However, this can sometimes be minimized by breaking larger projects up into smaller parts, so that no worker has the entire solution. (If you want to do this but are unsure, a Sherpa can do this for you for an hourly fee).
     • Different time zone: Much more difficult to coordinate with them because they are asleep when you are awake, and vice versa.
       
       However, many off-shore providers will work U.S. hours if requested. Also, some employers actually use this difference to their advantage by pairing an off-shore team with an on-shore/near-shore team, to do "round the clock development". This allows progress to be made at twice the speed.
     • Communication / English: Broken English and/or a different culture can cause project delays due to miscommunication.
       
       However, you can minimize this by vetting their English in advance and only using workers with English skills that will work for you.

On vWorker.com, you can view the location of every worker on their profile, so you can make the best choice for your situation. When you post a project, you can also chooose to limit bidding to workers in countries with certain economy types (emerging, mature or both).
                    
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