Vendor programs running IT requisitions right now are dealing with the same two problems: roles stay open too long, and US contractor rates keep climbing. Those two problems do not offset each other. They compound.
Nearshore staffing from Latin America addresses both directly. The gap between open IT requisitions and available domestic candidates has been widening for years, and contract roles feel it harder than full-time positions because salary competition is more visible. That is why the sourcing conversation has shifted.
The firms on this list appear consistently in top rankings for this category. They were selected because they have verifiable Latin American delivery operations and real track records with US clients. Fast Dolphin is number one because this is our list. The others are included because they are genuinely worth evaluating, even if another firm ends up being the right fit for your program.
Each profile below includes a “best for” designation and a limitation. The limitations are included because that is how useful supplier evaluations actually work.
Best for: Procurement and vendor management teams sourcing IT and engineering professionals through a VMS or MSP program, where 24-to-48-hour shortlists, full EOR coverage across Latin America, and billing flexibility are operational requirements.
Fast Dolphin has placed IT and engineering professionals across Latin America for over 20 years. The full service catalog covers temporary staffing, contract-to-hire, direct hire, nearshore dedicated development teams, and payrolling and employer-of-record services. 88% of clients return for additional placements, candidate profiles are delivered in 24 to 48 hours, and the firm has placed professionals across more than 21 countries.
What to keep in mind: Fast Dolphin specializes in IT and engineering. Non-technical functions are out of scope.
Best for: Enterprises that need to scale nearshore engineering capacity at high volume across multiple technologies.
BairesDev works with over 4,000 specialists across 40+ countries, having delivered 1,250+ projects across 130+ sectors, and drawing from what the company calls the top 1% of tech talent. Engagement options include staff augmentation, dedicated software development teams, and end-to-end software outsourcing.
What to keep in mind: BairesDev is structured for enterprise-scale engagements. Procurement teams managing smaller programs should confirm minimum engagement requirements during evaluation.
Best for: Large enterprises running digital transformation programs that span product engineering, AI, and creative technology.
Globant completed its NYSE IPO in 2014 as the first Latin American software company to do so, and has since built client relationships with Google, Electronic Arts, and Santander, among others. The company organizes its engineers into a Studios model built around specific technology disciplines.
What to keep in mind: Globant’s model centers on large-scale enterprise digital programs. Individual contractor placements are outside their primary engagement structure.
Best for: Engineering teams running Agile product development that want a nearshore partner focused on new product builds, platform consolidation, and application modernization.
What to keep in mind: Gorilla Logic is built around team-scale Agile delivery. Individual contractor fills through a VMS fall outside their standard structure.
Best for: Large programs requiring AI, cloud, and data engineering services across multiple geographies simultaneously.
Encora describes itself as operating across 40+ locations in 20+ countries, with a delivery model that combines nearshore alignment and offshore scale. The company has announced a planned combination with Coforge to build what they describe as a global leader in AI-driven engineering.
What to keep in mind: Encora is structured for enterprise scale. Programs below their commercial minimums are unlikely to be a priority engagement.
Best for: Companies in media, banking, healthcare, or retail that need an AI-integrated nearshore partner working across engineering, product strategy, and data.
What to keep in mind: Wizeline’s model is built around long-term embedded partnerships. Short-cycle contractor placements are not their standard engagement.
Best for: Large enterprises managing SAP environments, legacy modernization programs, or multi-country IT outsourcing contracts across Latin America.
Softtek operates with 16,000+ professionals across 20+ countries, with practices covering SAP, Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow and is CMMI Level 5 certified.
What to keep in mind: Softtek is built for large enterprise managed services and outsourcing contracts, not individual contractor placements.
Best for: Enterprises and growth-stage companies that need nearshore product and AI engineering across multiple Latin American delivery locations.
10Pearls operates nearshore delivery from Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil, with services spanning custom software development, AI, cloud, and QA.
What to keep in mind: 10Pearls is oriented toward full product and project delivery engagements. Individual contractor staffing through a managed program falls outside their standard model.
Best for: Companies needing rapid team scaling across a broad Latin American footprint, particularly on platforms including Microsoft, Salesforce, or ServiceNow.
What to keep in mind: The acquisition and rebrand are recent. Verify current contracting entities and commercial terms before onboarding.
Best for: Technology companies building mobile, blockchain, or AI-powered products that need a nearshore software engineering partner with deep specialization in those areas.
Cheesecake Labs specializes in mobile, web, blockchain, and AI applications, working with Fortune 500 and fast-growing startup clients in the US and Brazil. The company has maintained a five-year partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation and was recognized as the top software developer in Latin America by Clutch.
What to keep in mind: Cheesecake Labs is a product engineering firm, not a general staffing provider. Companies needing enterprise platform work or high-volume contract staffing will need a different partner.
Fast Dolphin delivers vetted shortlists in 24 to 48 hours from Latin America. Schedule a call to see what’s available for your program.
The sourcing conversations that led to this list are happening for a reason. The US IT labor market has been tightening for years, and contract roles feel it harder than full-time positions because salary competition shows up in every requisition.
76% of employers globally reported difficulty filling roles in 2025, more than double the 36% who said the same in 2014. At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects demand for software developers and QA analysts to grow 15% through 2034, roughly four times the average for all US occupations. Demand is rising faster than domestic supply, and that gap is not narrowing.
On the cost side, Near’s State of LatAm Hiring Report, which analyzed over 2,000 placements, found that US companies save an average of 47.6% on software engineer salaries when hiring from Latin America. Specialized roles compound the problem further: information security analyst positions are projected to grow 29% through 2034, nearly 10 times the US occupational average, and the domestic candidate pool for these roles is already stretched thin.
“Can they fill the role?” is a starting point, not an evaluation. These are the criteria that predict real performance inside a managed program.
The test is simple: can they get you two or three vetted, role-specific candidates within 48 hours of a requisition opening? Late or unscreened submissions signal that the firm’s pipeline is not production-ready for a live managed program. Ask for fill rate history and time-to-submit data before any onboarding conversation.
Compatibility means more than having a platform login. It means submitting rate information in the correct format, managing requisition workflows inside the system, and not requiring your team to carry the vendor’s administrative load. Ask specifically which platforms they have worked in and how they manage rate card administration on their side. How nearshore IT staffing works inside a vendor management program walks through what to verify before onboarding.
The most complete model is full EOR coverage in each country of delivery: the staffing firm holds the legal employer relationship locally, manages payroll taxes, and handles labor law compliance. Clients receive a single invoice and carry none of the cross-border classification risk. For engagements in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil specifically, ask directly: who carries the legal employer relationship in each country? That question has a short, clear answer when the firm has genuine EOR infrastructure. Fast Dolphin’s payrolling and employer-of-record services keep this on our side for every engagement.
Suppliers whose billing currency, payment terms, or invoice format does not match your program create exceptions that finance teams manage manually. For programs operating across the US and Canada, confirm USD and CAD billing capability and that the firm can work within your standard net-30 or net-60 payment terms. These are the kinds of details worth resolving before the first MSP/VMS onboarding conversation, not after.
Fast Dolphin has placed IT and engineering professionals across Latin America for over 21 years. Shortlists arrive in 24 to 48 hours. Payroll, worker classification, and employer-of-record obligations across each delivery country stay on our side. Billing currencies and engagement terms adapt to how your program is structured.
The focus is IT and engineering only: software developers, DevOps engineers, QA automation specialists, cloud and infrastructure teams, cybersecurity analysts, and platform professionals across Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, and data engineering. That scope is narrow by design. It means every sourcing relationship and every screening process is built around the profiles US procurement programs actually need.
If you want to know what’s available for your open requisitions and what an engagement would cost, that conversation is straightforward.
Fill out our contact form and we’ll follow up with available profiles, role-specific rate benchmarks, and a clear picture of how an engagement would work within your program structure.
Nearshore staffing sources IT and engineering professionals from Latin American countries that operate within US business hours, typically zero to four hours different depending on the region. That alignment makes standups, sprint planning, and incident response work in real time. Offshore staffing from Asia involves a 10-to-13-hour gap that forces asynchronous workflows. Domestic staffing competes in the same candidate pool at the same salary expectations. Nearshore sidesteps that competition entirely, with cost structures running 30 to 70% below domestic rates for comparable IT profiles.
The strongest model is employer-of-record coverage: the staffing firm holds the legal employer relationship in the country where the professional is located, manages all payroll tax and social security obligations, and gives the client a single invoice. This keeps cross-border classification risk off the client entirely. Not every firm on this list provides full EOR in every delivery country, so asking specifically about this during evaluation is worth the time.
Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina are the most established sourcing markets. Mexico has the tightest time zone alignment with US Central and Mountain Time and the largest engineering graduate output in the region. Colombia has built a strong reputation in software development and cloud engineering over the past decade. Brazil has Latin America’s largest overall technology workforce, with particular depth in enterprise platforms and mobile development. Argentina is known for strong technical depth in software engineering. The way these nearshore DevOps and QA teams integrate into US programs varies by engagement model and role type.
Ask how they handle requisition submissions in your platform, what their average time-to-submit is, and who manages rate card administration on their side. Suppliers who give vague answers to those questions typically create more work for your team than they solve. The best suppliers have dedicated program management resources that operate inside VMS environments regularly.
Software engineers (Java, Python, .NET, Angular, React), cloud and infrastructure engineers (AWS, Azure, GCP), DevOps engineers, QA automation engineers, SAP and Oracle consultants, data engineers, BI developers, mobile developers (iOS and Android), and cybersecurity analysts are the most consistently sourced through nearshore IT staff augmentation programs. Roles requiring active US security clearances, US professional licensure, or regular physical site presence are not suitable for nearshore placement.
