2026 hiring guide · Colombia

How to Hire in Colombia From the US

A practical guide for US companies hiring employees or contractors in Colombia: the four legal ways to hire, what a hire costs in US dollars, and the labor rules after the 2025 reform. Hiring now? LatamCent can find, vet and pay senior engineering, data and bilingual GTM talent for you.

  1. 1Choose how to hireEOR, contractor, SAS entity or hiring partner
  2. 2Budget the real costSalary in USD plus about 38% in contributions and benefits
  3. 3Follow the labor codeContracts, severance and the 2025 reform
  4. 4Make a competitive offerThe benefits senior candidates in Colombia expect

21-day average to hire · 93% placement success · 60-day replacement

Flag of Colombia

At a glance

Colombia

  • Time zoneUTC-5 (Colombia Time)No daylight saving time
  • Overlap with US EasternFull workday in winterOne hour behind Eastern from March to November
  • CurrencyColombian peso (COP)About 3,273 per US dollar, October 2026
  • Talent hubsBogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga
  • Employer costAbout 38% above salaryContributions plus prima, cesantías and vacation
Hire in 21 days or less with LatamCent

Trusted by US B2B SaaS teams

Step 1: choose how to hire

4 ways to hire in Colombia, compared

Which route fits depends on headcount, how fast you need the first hire and how much Colombian payroll and compliance your team wants to run. Here is how the options compare for a US company.

Hiring partner (LatamCent)Employer of RecordIndependent contractorLocal entity (SAS)
Recruiting includedYes, sourcing plus technical and English vettingUsually notNoNo
Who holds the contractLatamCent, under a contractor-on-record modelThe EOR, under the Código Sustantivo del TrabajoYour company, service agreementYour company, under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo
Speed21-day average to signed offerWeeks once you have a candidateFastest to signSlowest: Chamber of Commerce, DIAN and payroll setup
Compliance risk for youStays with LatamCentLowHighest: Article 23 judges substance, not labelsYou own all of it
Best forTeams that want recruiting and payroll handled by one partner1 to 10 employees, testing the marketShort, deliverable-based workA sizeable, permanent team

Based on Colombia’s Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, the 2025 labor reform (Ley 2466 de 2025) and LatamCent placement data. Details for each route are in the 4 routes below.

About 38%Employer cost above salary for most hires: pension, Caja de compensación and ARL, plus prima, cesantías and vacation.
42 hoursMaximum working week from July 15, 2026, with Sunday and holiday work now paid at a 90% surcharge.
Full workdayOverlap with US Eastern in winter, and with US Central for the rest of the year. Colombia runs on UTC-5 all year.
2x to 3xWhat a comparable US senior engineer costs against a senior Colombian engineer working remotely for a US company.
Step 1 in detail

How to hire in Colombia: the 4 routes

US companies have three legal options for hiring in Colombia: setting up a local entity, using an Employer of Record, or engaging independent contractors through cross-border service agreements. The choice depends on headcount plans, timeline to the first hire and tolerance for compliance work. A fourth option, a hiring partner, adds recruiting on top of the compliance layer.

Hire employees in Colombia with an Employer of Record (EOR)

Low risk

An employer of record in Colombia is a third party that legally employs workers on behalf of a foreign company, while day-to-day direction stays with you. The EOR holds the contract, runs payroll, files taxes and handles compliance.

The EOR handles:

  • Employment contracts that comply with the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo
  • Monthly payroll and social security through PILA
  • Income tax withholding remitted monthly to DIAN
  • Statutory benefits: prima, cesantías and vacation
  • Termination procedures and severance calculations

EOR in Colombia fits when:

  • The team is between one and ten people
  • You are testing the market before setting up an entity
  • You need compliant contracts within weeks, not months
  • Engineering, GTM or operations hires need standard SaaS benefits without local infrastructure

Most global EOR platforms operate in Colombia, but an EOR won’t find candidates for you. Sourcing, vetting and closing the hire stay on your side.

Hire independent contractors in Colombia

Highest risk

Hiring contractors in Colombia is the fastest way to start working together and the highest-exposure option under Colombian labor law.

Contractor arrangements fit when:

  • The scope is project-based with a defined deliverable
  • The engagement is short-term and clearly bounded
  • The worker serves multiple clients
  • There is no fixed schedule or supervision

Article 23 of the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo defines three elements of employment: personal service, continuous subordination and pay. When all three are present the relationship is employment, whatever the contract says, and Article 24 presumes an employment contract exists. Courts call this the contrato realidad.

If contractor work runs past its original scope, the relationship can be treated as indefinite employment from the start, with severance and benefits recalculated retroactively. Reduce the risk by:

  • Scoping each engagement to a specific deliverable, not ongoing capacity
  • Avoiding fixed hours and supervisory check-ins
  • Keeping exclusivity clauses out of service agreements
  • Running a legal review on any contractor relationship lasting more than three to six months

Set up a local entity in Colombia

You own compliance

A local entity gives you direct legal presence, full control of the employment relationship and local invoicing. The usual choice for foreign investors is the SAS (Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada) under Ley 1258 de 2008, which can be incorporated by private document. Alternatives include the S.A., the Ltda. and the sucursal de sociedad extranjera for a permanent foreign branch, which needs more corporate documentation and a longer registration.

Registration runs through a defined sequence:

  • Define the legal form and draft bylaws
  • Register with the Chamber of Commerce through RUES or the VUE single window
  • Complete DIAN registration for the RUT and NIT
  • Open a corporate bank account
  • Complete payroll and social security onboarding for employees

From the first hire, the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo requires:

  • Written employment contracts, with indefinite term as the default
  • Affiliation to health, pension and ARL (occupational risk)
  • Monthly social security and parafiscal contributions through PILA
  • Prima de servicios, cesantías, cesantías interest and accrued vacation

An entity makes sense once headcount, invoicing needs or operational presence justify the administration. For a first hire or a team under ten, the setup cost rarely pays off before an EOR or hiring partner would already have onboarded the same people.

Hire through a nearshore hiring partner

Recruiting included

A hiring partner covers the part the other three routes leave to you: finding and vetting the right person. LatamCent recruits inside the networks where senior Colombian engineers, product leads and operations talent move, then carries the contract, payroll, PILA social security and parafiscal filings and DIAN withholding under a contractor-on-record model, with one USD invoice each month.

If you’re building a product team, see how our nearshore software development model works across Latin America.

  • 21-day average from kickoff to signed offer
  • Pre-vetted shortlists with technical and English screening built in
  • 60-day replacement coverage on every hire
Hire in Colombia with LatamCent

In short, an entity gives full control with full administration, an EOR gives compliant employment in weeks without local infrastructure, and contractors give speed at the cost of legal exposure that grows with time. The same labor code applies either way; the difference is who manages it day to day.

Step 2: budget

What a Colombian hire costs in US dollars

Convert Colombian pesos to US dollars at the October 2026 official rate (TRM), estimate the employer contributions on top of salary, then see what a decade of peso swings means for what your Colombian hire costs you.

Cost converter

COP
USD
1 USD = 3,273 COP
Gross salary per month$3,055
Employer contributions (about 16.5%): pension 12%, Caja de compensación 4%, ARL from 0.522%$504
Estimated monthly cost, before prima, cesantías and vacation$3,559

For employees earning under 10 minimum wages (COP 17,509,050 a month in 2026), corporate employers that pay income tax are exempt from the 8.5% employer health contribution and SENA and ICBF. Above that threshold, add 8.5% health, 2% SENA and 3% ICBF. Prima, cesantías with 12% interest and vacation add about 22% more, which puts most hires near 38% above salary. These are employer costs when you hire through an EOR or your own entity. LatamCent hires are priced as salary plus a service fee, quoted per role.

USD to COP, 10-year trend

2016 to 2026 · the dollar buys about 7% more pesos

2,8003,1403,4803,8204,1604,500 2016 avg: 1 USD = 3,051 COP2017 avg: 1 USD = 2,951 COP2018 avg: 1 USD = 2,956 COP2019 avg: 1 USD = 3,281 COP2020 avg: 1 USD = 3,693 COP2021 avg: 1 USD = 3,743 COP2022 avg: 1 USD = 4,255 COP2023 avg: 1 USD = 4,325 COP2024 avg: 1 USD = 4,071 COP2025 avg: 1 USD = 4,053 COP Oct 5, 2026: 1 USD = 3,273 COP ’16’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26 3,051 4,325 3,273

Higher line = weaker peso = your dollar buys more. The peso averaged above 4,300 per dollar in 2023 and has since recovered close to 2016 levels. Swings cut both ways: quote in USD and budget on the current rate rather than on a discount.

Sources: Banco de la República TRM, annual averages for 2016 to 2025, and the TRM of 3,273.49 for October 5, 2026. Averages will differ from any single day’s quote.

Why this matters for hiring

A Colombian salary of 10,000,000 COP a month costs a US buyer about $3,055 a month at the October 2026 rate. After big swings the peso is back near 2016 levels, so budget on today’s rate.

These are reference rates and live FX moves daily. Use them for planning and confirm the rate before you sign a contract.

Step 3: compliance

Employment laws in Colombia

Employment in Colombia is governed by the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, with major updates from the 2025 labor reform (Ley 2466 de 2025) on working hours, surcharges and contracts. The Ministerio del Trabajo enforces it, and the code defaults to the employee-friendly reading when contract terms are unclear.

Severance for a dismissal without just cause (Article 64) is the highest-cost variable. On indefinite contracts with salary under 10 minimum wages, it is 30 days of pay for the first year plus 20 days for each additional year, prorated. At 10 minimum wages or more it drops to 20 days for the first year plus 15 for each additional year. Fixed-term contracts pay the salary for the remaining term, and project-based contracts the remaining time with a 15-day minimum.

The final settlement also clears accrued salary, vacation, prima, cesantías and cesantías interest, which adds up on long-tenure exits.

Treat prima, cesantías and severance as fixed monthly costs. They accrue from day one, and the 2025 reform raises the cost of Sunday, holiday and night work.

Contracts and probation

Since Ley 2466 de 2025, indefinite-term contracts are the default. Fixed-term contracts must be in writing and are capped at 4 years in total. Probation lasts up to 2 months, or a fifth of the term on fixed-term contracts under a year.

Working hours and overtime

The maximum week falls to 42 hours from July 15, 2026 (Ley 2101 de 2021), with up to 9 hours a day allowed without overtime over 5 or 6 days. Overtime is capped at 2 hours a day and 12 a week, with premiums of 25% by day and 75% at night. Night work now starts at 7 pm, with a 35% surcharge.

Sunday and holiday work

The surcharge rises under the reform: 80% from July 1, 2025, 90% from July 1, 2026 and 100% from July 1, 2027.

Prima and cesantías

Prima de servicios is 30 days of pay a year, half by June 30 and half by December 20. Cesantías are one month of salary a year, deposited in the employee’s fund by February 14, plus 12% interest paid to the employee by January 31.

Social security and parafiscales

Employers pay 12% pension, 8.5% health, ARL from 0.522% to 6.96% by risk class, and parafiscales of 4% Caja de compensación, 2% SENA and 3% ICBF. Corporate employers that pay income tax skip the health, SENA and ICBF portions for employees under 10 minimum wages. Employees pay 4% health and 4% pension.

Minimum wage 2026

COP 1,750,905 a month, plus a transport subsidy of COP 249,095 for employees earning up to 2 minimum wages.

Protected dismissals

Dismissing a pregnant employee, a mother in the 18 weeks after birth or other protected workers requires prior authorization from a labor inspector. Disciplinary sanctions now follow a formal due-process procedure.

Monthly payroll in Colombia

Payroll in Colombia runs several parallel obligations on monthly cycles, each with its own filing channel, rate and deadline:

Salary

Monthly salary paid in COP through local banking

Social security

Pension, health and ARL, paid through PILA

Parafiscales

Caja de compensación, plus SENA and ICBF where no exemption applies

Withholding

Income tax withheld and remitted monthly to DIAN

Provisions

Prima, cesantías, cesantías interest and accrued vacation

Transport subsidy

For employees earning up to 2 minimum wages

Through an EOR, payroll and statutory filings move to the provider. Through a local entity, they sit with your finance and HR teams, which means local payroll capacity from the first employee.

Plan these as fixed costs from the start. Workforce plans that treat prima and cesantías as surprises tend to miss the February and June cash outflows.

Step 4: your offer

Common benefits and perks in Colombia

Base salary alone doesn’t close senior tech offers in Colombia. Inflation, strong labor protections and a competitive market for bilingual engineering and GTM talent shape what candidates expect above the statutory floor.

Private health insurance

EPS coverage is the statutory baseline, but senior professionals expect a prepaid private plan (medicina prepagada) for themselves and their family. It is consistently one of the top factors candidates cite, and family coverage closes offers faster.

Additional paid time off

Statutory vacation is 15 business days. Tech companies competing for senior engineers and GTM hires typically offer 20 or more days from the start, plus flexible scheduling.

Performance bonuses

Variable pay tied to individual or team KPIs is standard at mid-size and large companies and expected at senior levels. Annual or quarterly structures fit SaaS operating cycles.

USD-linked pay

Inflation and currency swings make USD-indexed pay a baseline expectation for senior technical hires. Offers in COP without indexation see more rejections and faster turnover.

Remote work costs

Under Ley 2121 de 2021, employers provide the equipment for remote work and cover internet, electricity and phone costs tied to the role. Coworking allowances are common for hybrid arrangements in Bogotá and Medellín.

Professional development budget

Certification reimbursement, online courses and English classes are expected by senior engineers and data professionals. AWS, Azure, GCP and AI certifications are the most pursued.

Flexible working hours

Results-based scheduling is the norm in Colombia’s tech sector. Mandating fixed schedules creates friction during sourcing and raises early attrition.

Wellness and equity

Therapy access, gym reimbursements and wellness platforms are now expected at SaaS employers competing for senior talent. Stock options or phantom equity appear at startups and shift the conversation from base salary to total upside.

Senior Colombian tech professionals compare packages with former colleagues at international employers before they sign, so a below-market benefit set gets noticed quickly.

Adding benefits usually works better than raising base salary: better acceptance rates, lower attrition and more predictable cost over the employment lifecycle.

Leave policy in Colombia

Minimum leave is set by the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo and Ley 2114 de 2021. Employers can offer more, but not less, and leave is funded through a mix of employer payment and the EPS health system.

Maternity leave

18 weeks

Paid at 100% of salary through the EPS. Dismissal during pregnancy or the 18 weeks after birth requires labor-inspector authorization.

Paternity leave

2 weeks

Paid through the EPS once the birth certificate is submitted on time. The 2025 reform did not change it.

Sick leave

Up to 180 days

The employer pays the first 2 days of common illness. From day 3 the EPS pays two-thirds of salary up to day 90 and half after that, never below the minimum wage.

Parental leave

Shared and flexible

Under Ley 2114 de 2021, parents can share up to 6 of the 18 maternity weeks, and a flexible part-time option is available.

Maternity pay is funded by the EPS, but the employer pays the salary upfront and recovers it through the social security reimbursement process.

Two weeks of paternity leave sits below what international employers usually offer. SaaS companies hiring in Colombia often extend it to four or six weeks for senior engineering and GTM roles.

Sick leave depends on who pays:

  • Days 1 to 2: the employer, at full salary
  • Days 3 to 180: the EPS, with medical certification
  • Days 181 to 540: the pension fund, subject to a disability evaluation

Work-related illness or injury is paid at 100% by the ARL from day one. Model the first 2 days of each illness and the paperwork of EPS recovery as a recurring cost.

Remote work regulations in Colombia

Colombia has one of the most formalized remote work regimes in Latin America. Ley 2121 de 2021 created the remote work (trabajo remoto) category, alongside telework under Ley 1221 de 2008 and work from home under Ley 2088 de 2021, and employers report teleworkers to the Ministerio del Trabajo.

In Colombia the remote work agreement is a compliance document, not a side letter.

What the contract covers

Ley 2121 requires the contract to set the terms of the remote arrangement, the equipment provided, how it may be used and the limits on working time, in line with the labor code and the 2025 reform. The employee’s home privacy has to be respected.

Right to disconnect

Ley 2191 de 2022 protects the right to disconnect from work messages outside working hours. Always-on availability can’t be a written or implied expectation, which matters for teams spread across time zones.

Equipment and costs

For remote work, the employer provides and maintains the tools, equipment and software, and covers internet, electricity and phone costs tied to the role. Model hardware refreshes and connectivity as ongoing costs.

Data protection

Ley 1581 de 2012 sets the rules for processing personal data, enforced by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio. Define device security, VPN use and acceptable use of company systems in the contract.

Statutory time off in Colombia

Colombia mandates paid annual vacation and observes 18 national public holidays in 2026, with surcharges when work falls on a Sunday or holiday. Both affect sprint planning and client coverage for US teams.

Paid time off (vacation) in Colombia

Vacation is the same at every tenure:

15 daysbusiness days per year of service
1 yearof service before the first vacation
Up to halfcan be paid in cash by written agreement
At exitunused vacation is paid in the final settlement

Employers schedule vacation within legal limits, and carry-over needs a written agreement between employer and employee.

Colombia’s public holidays

Under the Ley Emiliani, many holidays move to the following Monday. Work on a Sunday or holiday is paid with a 90% surcharge from July 1, 2026, rising to 100% from July 1, 2027.

Holidays cluster around Holy Week, Corpus Christi and Sagrado Corazón, and in the summer civic calendar, which squeezes client-facing capacity in April, June and August.

Jan 1Año Nuevo
Jan 12Día de los Reyes Magos
Mar 23Día de San José
Apr 2Jueves Santo
Apr 3Viernes Santo
May 1Día del Trabajo
May 18Día de la Ascensión
Jun 8Corpus Christi
Jun 15Sagrado Corazón
Jun 29San Pedro y San Pablo
Jul 20Día de la Independencia
Aug 7Batalla de Boyacá
Aug 17La Asunción de la Virgen
Oct 12Día de la Raza
Nov 2Todos los Santos (moved from Nov 1)
Nov 16Independencia de Cartagena
Dec 8Inmaculada Concepción
Dec 25Navidad
Roles & stacks

The strongest pools are in back-end engineering, data and infrastructure, with real depth in GTM, finance and operations roles that work with US customers every day.

Engineering teams in Colombia

Hiring developers in Colombia means hiring from the country’s largest professional pool, concentrated in Bogotá and Medellín and shaped by direct work with US clients.

Back-End DeveloperJava with Spring, Node.js, Python and Go are the most common stacks, and the senior tier here is the deepest part of Colombia’s engineering market.
Full-Stack Software EngineerReact with TypeScript on the front and Node.js on the back is the standard profile, and most candidates have shipped against US roadmaps.
Data Engineerand BI analysts work in SQL, Python, dbt and Power BI. The pool grew with the shared-services sector, so candidates build pipelines that feed reporting, not just dashboards.
DevOps Engineerand cloud engineers work mostly in AWS and Azure, with Kubernetes and Terraform standard at senior level. GCP experience is thinner but available.
QA AutomationSelenium and Cypress with Java or JavaScript. One of the more cost-efficient profiles to embed in US release cycles.
Mobile EngineerFlutter and React Native lead, with native Kotlin for Android-heavy products. iOS-first profiles are a smaller pool.

GTM, finance and marketing roles in Colombia

Bogotá and Medellín are two of the deepest GTM markets in Latin America for US SaaS, with bilingual sales talent that has run outbound and expansion for North American companies.

Sales Development Representative (SDR)Built for outbound into US and LatAm SaaS pipelines. Bilingual SDRs in Bogotá and Medellín can replace US-based outbound at a fraction of the cost.
Account Executive (AE)Mid-market and expansion AEs with experience closing US deal cycles. Enterprise Account Executives with seven-figure ACV experience are a smaller pool and take longer to find.
Customer Success Manager (CSM)Onboarding, adoption and retention profiles are the strongest customer success segment, often from the BPO and shared-services side of the market.
Revenue Operation ManagersHubSpot and Salesforce administration plus reporting depth, with pipeline forecasting and territory design at senior level.
Revenue Operations Analyst (Finance)Revenue and GL analysts trained in local standards with US GAAP exposure through shared-services centers. Familiarity with subscription revenue is growing.
Growth MarketerPaid media, lifecycle, SEO and content. The strongest profiles come from companies that ran US and LatAm campaigns in parallel.

Support, operations and HR roles in Colombia

Operations roles are where Colombia’s BPO heritage and tech sector overlap, producing bilingual profiles that fit cleanly into US workflows.

Bilingual Customer Support RepresentativeTier 1 and Tier 2 support in English. The deepest operations pool in the country, centered on Medellín and Bogotá.
Implementation and Onboarding SpecialistsTechnical onboarding for SaaS products, often with prior customer success or solutions engineering experience.
Cybersecurity and IT SupportSOC analysts and IT support are available at mid-level. Senior security architects with international certifications are competitive to source.
Payroll Specialistsand compliance specialists know the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo and Colombian payroll obligations as standard.
HRBP and People OpsLocal labor law fluency plus experience supporting distributed teams across Colombia and other LatAm markets.

Don’t see the role you need?

We hire across engineering, data, GTM, customer success, finance and operations in Colombia. Tell us what you’re looking for.

Tell us the role

Why should US-based B2B SaaS companies hire in Colombia?

US SaaS companies hire in Colombia for senior engineering, data and revenue talent in cities that already work with US companies daily, on a workday that lines up with the US. Cost is the entry point; the depth of talent is why teams stay.

Time zone overlap with the US

Colombia runs on UTC-5 all year with no daylight saving time. From November to March it shares a clock with US Eastern, and for the rest of the year it matches US Central, one hour behind Eastern. Code reviews happen live, sprint ceremonies fit the US calendar and standups stop being a scheduling exercise.

Colombia has had a dedicated remote work law since 2021 and a right to disconnect since 2022, and Bogotá and Medellín have mature distributed-team practice.

UTC-5all year, no daylight saving time
Full workdayoverlap with US Eastern in winter and US Central in summer

Senior talent at a lower cost

Senior software engineers in Colombia earn about USD 40,000 to 50,000 a year in the local market, and those working remotely for US companies typically earn USD 60,000 to 80,000, with cloud and AI specialists higher. A comparable US senior engineer costs roughly two to three times more.

For a founder managing burn, that difference can fund one extra senior back-end engineer or a full QA function in the same quarterly budget.

For US B2B SaaS companies building:

  • Back-end and full-stack engineering teams
  • Data engineering and ML pipelines
  • DevOps and cloud infrastructure
  • SDR and Account Executive coverage for North American markets
  • Customer success and revenue operations

The strongest fit is back-end, data, DevOps and bilingual GTM. For native-English executive customer-facing roles, screen explicitly on top of the city-level English profile.

English skills and the talent pipeline

English follows the map more than the national average. Colombia scores 480 on the EF English Proficiency Index 2025 (low band, 76th), but Bucaramanga (518), Medellín (516) and Bogotá (513) score well above it. Those cities work for live technical communication; elsewhere, screen explicitly for meetings.

Five universities feed most of the pipeline: Universidad de los Andes, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad de Antioquia and EAFIT. They have placed engineers in US-facing software companies for over a decade.

Colombia’s advantage is concentration rather than volume. A recruiter working two cities can source senior engineering candidates without trading off quality.

Colombia’s economy

Colombia is the fourth-largest economy in Latin America, with a GDP of about USD 457 billion in 2025 (World Bank). It is a services economy with industrial depth: commerce, transport, accommodation and food services lead GDP, while public administration, education and health steady employment through downturns.

Manufacturing anchors the industrial base and feeds a shared-services sector built around bilingual operations talent, with companies like Globant (over 6,000 people in Colombia) and Bancolombia and Medellín’s digital business cluster. Oil and coal still move the fiscal numbers.

Macro pressure is real. Inflation was 6.24% in August 2026, and Banco de la República raised its policy rate to 12.25% on September 30, 2026. The fiscal rule was suspended in 2025, and S&P cut Colombia’s rating to BB- in April 2026. Senior candidates price inflation into their expectations, so offers that ignore it get countered or declined.

The tech workforce grew on a separate track. Colombian engineers have spent over a decade on distributed teams for North American companies, building skills that don’t depend on commodity cycles or fiscal swings.

Quick facts about Colombia

Official LanguageSpanish
Time ZoneColombia Time (COT), UTC-5
Capital CityBogotá
CurrencyColombian Peso (COP)
Top Talent HubsBogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga
English SpeakingLow nationally (EF EPI 2025), stronger in Bogotá, Medellín and Bucaramanga
Payroll CycleMonthly
Internet ConnectivityAbout 78% internet penetration
Average Internet SpeedAbout 190 Mbps fixed broadband (varies by source)
Dial code+57
Taxpayer Identification NumberRUT / NIT
Popular IndustriesCommerce and transport, public administration and health, manufacturing, finance and business services, mining and hydrocarbons, agriculture and agroindustry
Top International CompaniesMicrosoft, Oracle, SAP, IBM, AWS, Salesforce
Tech StartupsAbout 2,140 startups and 3 unicorns: Rappi, Habi and LifeMiles
Results from real hires in Colombia

What it looks like once you hire

YipitData

How YipitData built a 47+ person team, mostly in Colombia, and saves $1.47M a year

YipitData moves fast and pivots often, so the bar was never just whether people could do the work. It needed hires who could plug into that pace and own their part of it.

LatamCent sourced and vetted candidates for every function, and the fully remote team now works alongside the US team, with promotions from within on every team:

  • GTM
  • Customer success
  • Renewals and procurement
  • Recruitment
  • Ops
  • Product
  • Engineering
  • BDR
Read the YipitData story
47+Roles filled through LatamCent in two years
$1.47MSaved a year vs. equivalent US salaries
91%Retention in renewals and procurement
2x to 3xWhat comparable US talent costs
“I wish many of our US-based employees showed the same level of enthusiasm we’re getting from our team members in Latin America.”
Natalie DiTomasso
Natalie DiTomassoVP of Business Operations, YipitData
“Some of our very best reps that have been promoted to senior SDR have come from LatamCent.”
Michael Facci
Michael FacciSenior Sales Development Manager, SpendHound

More from the same group: SpendHound hired about 15 SDRs in Colombia, with first offers signed in under three weeks, and built its customer success team entirely with LatamCent placements in Colombia.

Results as published in the clients’ LatamCent case studies. Savings are measured against equivalent US salaries.

How LatamCent can help you hire in Colombia

Most US founders who read a labor breakdown like this one reach the same conclusion: they want a partner who already does this for a living. That’s our job, in Colombia specifically, and it’s where we’ve built teams for YipitData and SpendHound.

LatamCent runs sourcing and compliance as one workflow. We recruit inside the networks where senior Colombian engineers, product leads and operations talent move, then carry the contract, payroll, PILA social security and parafiscal filings to Caja de compensación, SENA and ICBF, DIAN withholding and the legal side under a contractor-on-record model. You get one USD invoice each month, and the Colombian compliance footprint stays with us.

Comparing countries first? Read our guides to hiring in Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia and Belize, or browse every Latin America hiring guide.

For US B2B SaaS teams, a Colombia engagement looks like this in practice:

21 daysaverage from kickoff to signed offer
93%first-placement success rate
60 daysreplacement coverage on every hire
Built inpre-vetted shortlists with technical and English screening
One partnerfor engineering, AI, data, GTM, finance and people roles
Hire in Colombia with LatamCent
FAQ

How to hire in Colombia: FAQ

Is it legal for a US company to hire employees in Colombia?

Yes. US companies have three legal options for hiring in Colombia: setting up a local entity, using an Employer of Record (EOR), or engaging independent contractors through cross-border service agreements. A hiring partner adds recruiting on top. The choice depends on headcount plans, timeline to the first hire and tolerance for compliance work.

How do I hire in Colombia as a foreign company?

A foreign company can hire through an EOR or hiring partner that employs people on its behalf, or set up its own entity, usually an SAS registered with the Chamber of Commerce and DIAN, and then affiliate each employee to health, pension, ARL and a Caja de compensación. Contractors are possible for short, deliverable-based work, but Article 23 of the labor code treats any relationship with personal service, subordination and pay as employment.

How do I hire engineers in Colombia for a US company and stay compliant on payroll?

Use a written contract under the Código Sustantivo del Trabajo, pay social security and parafiscales monthly through PILA, withhold income tax for DIAN, and provision prima, cesantías with 12% interest and vacation. Remote engineers also need a remote work agreement under Ley 2121 de 2021 that covers equipment and connectivity costs and the right to disconnect. An EOR or a hiring partner like LatamCent runs all of this for you, and LatamCent also recruits and vets the engineers.

What percentage are employer payroll contributions in Colombia?

For employees earning under 10 minimum wages (COP 17,509,050 a month in 2026), corporate employers that pay income tax contribute 12% pension, 4% Caja de compensación and ARL from 0.522% by risk class, about 16.5% in total. Above that threshold, add 8.5% health, 2% SENA and 3% ICBF. Prima, cesantías with interest and vacation add about 22% more. Employees contribute 4% health and 4% pension.

How much does it cost to hire through an EOR in Colombia?

Expect total employer cost of about 38% above salary for most hires: around 16.5% in contributions plus about 22% in prima, cesantías, cesantías interest and vacation, before the EOR’s own fee. A 10,000,000 COP monthly salary is about $3,055 at the October 2026 rate, or roughly $3,559 a month with contributions alone.

What is the average software engineer salary in Colombia?

Senior software engineers in Colombia earn about USD 40,000 to 50,000 a year in the local market. Those working remotely for US companies typically earn USD 60,000 to 80,000, with cloud and AI specialists higher. A comparable US senior engineer costs roughly two to three times more.

Do US companies need a local entity to hire in Colombia?

No. A local entity is only one option. For a first hire or a team under ten people, the setup cost rarely pays off before an EOR or a hiring partner would already have onboarded the same hires, and entity setup can follow once headcount justifies it.

What is Colombia’s time zone overlap with US business hours?

Colombia runs on Colombia Time (COT), UTC-5, all year with no daylight saving time. From November to March it shares a clock with US Eastern, and for the rest of the year it matches US Central, one hour behind Eastern. Code reviews happen live and sprint ceremonies fit the US calendar.

What are the standard working hours and key employment rules in Colombia?

The maximum working week is 42 hours from July 15, 2026, with up to 9 hours a day allowed without overtime. Overtime is capped at 2 hours a day and 12 a week, with premiums of 25% by day and 75% at night, and night work starts at 7 pm. Sunday and holiday work carries a 90% surcharge from July 1, 2026. Indefinite contracts are the default under the 2025 reform, and probation lasts up to 2 months.

Ready to hire in Colombia?

If Colombia is on your shortlist for an engineering, data or GTM hire, tell us about the role and we’ll get back to you.

  • 21 daysaverage from kickoff to signed offer
  • 93%first-placement success rate
  • 60 daysreplacement coverage on every hire
“It basically feels like we’re working with our in-house people team. Sometimes I actually get confused about who’s a YipitData employee and who’s a LatamCent employee.”
Zack Hildenbrandt
Zack HildenbrandtManager, Procurement Expert Team, SpendHound

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