Offshore, nearshore or onshore: where should your outsourced team sit?

Once you have decided to outsource, the next question is where. The three broad options are onshore (in your own country), nearshore (a nearby country, often in a similar time zone) and offshore (further away, usually with lower costs).

There is no single right answer. The best location depends on who your customers are, when they need help and what the work involves.

The three options at a glance

Start with your customers

Write down where your customers are, which languages they speak and which hours they contact you. A UK retailer with customers in Britain and Europe has different needs from a US software company that wants overnight cover, or a fintech serving customers across Africa.

Once you know this, you can test each location against it rather than against a generic list of pros and cons.

Time zones: a constraint or an advantage?

Teams in the same time zone are easy to manage, but a different time zone can be a real advantage. Nairobi, at UTC+3, is two to three hours ahead of the UK, one to two hours ahead of central Europe, in the same time zone as Saudi Arabia and seven to eight hours ahead of New York. That means:

• a normal day shift overlaps almost fully with UK and European business hours;
• the same team works Gulf hours with no night shift needed;
• an evening and night shift covers the US working day, and back-office queues can be cleared overnight before your team starts.

We explore this in more depth in covering UK, Europe, US and Gulf hours from Nairobi.

Language and culture

For voice work, clear and neutral English matters more than any particular accent. For written channels, grammar, tone and typing speed matter most. Ask partners how they assess these skills before hiring, not just whether their people speak English.

If you need other languages, check what is realistic. From Kenya, English and Swahili are widely spoken, French and Arabic speakers can be recruited, and other languages are possible on request.

Talent and retention

Cost per hour is only part of the picture. A location where good people are hard to find, or where staff move between employers every few months, will cost you in training and quality. Ask about typical tenure and how the partner keeps people, such as career paths, training and fair pay.

Resilience

Putting all your operations in one country, or with one supplier, concentrates risk. Many companies run a second hub in a different region so that a local disruption does not take down their whole operation. Kenya is often chosen as a second hub alongside the Philippines or India. Our Kenya vs Philippines comparison covers this in detail.

A simple way to decide

1. 1List your customer locations, languages and hours.
2. 2Decide which work is customer-facing and which is behind the scenes.
3. 3Shortlist locations that fit both.
4. 4Compare total cost, including management, quality and turnover, not just hourly rates.
5. 5Run a small pilot before committing.

Frequently asked questions

Is offshore outsourcing lower quality?

Not inherently. Quality comes from recruitment, training and management, which you can test during a pilot.

Can one offshore team cover several regions?

Yes. With overlapping shifts, one team in Nairobi can cover Europe by day and the Americas by night.

See how this works for your region on our global coverage page, or talk to us about your customers and hours.