Most US / European founders are surprised that hiring one engineer in India is genuinely simple. EOR onboards in 7-10 working days, the legal stack is handled, and you have a real Indian employee on your team with full statutory benefits. The hard part is the cultural / operational integration — same problem you'd have hiring anyone remote.
Three options for one hire
| Option | Setup time | Monthly cost ($) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| EOR | 7-10 days | $249-799 (fee) + actual salary | Cleanest. Standard answer for one hire. |
| Independent contractor | 1-3 days | Pure salary + no fee | Only valid if genuinely independent. Misclassification risk if FTE. |
| Own subsidiary | 45-60 days | $5,000-7,000 base + actual salary | Massively over-engineered for one. Don't. |
EOR for one — the canonical answer
For 95% of foreign companies hiring a single Indian engineer, EOR is right. Cost: a senior engineer at ₹60L CTC plus $249-349/month EOR fee totals ~$5,800/month all-in. No subsidiary setup, no FEMA reporting, no Indian banking. The first hire happens in 10 days.
First-hire EOR setup in one consultant call
FastLegal's first-hire EOR engagement is a 30-minute kick-off call. We collect your engineer's KYC, run BGV, ship the offer letter, onboard them onto our payroll, and you have a fully employed Indian engineer 10 working days later. $249/month thereafter.
Contractor for one — when it's valid
If the engineer is genuinely independent — they have other clients, set their own hours, invoice you on a project / hourly basis — contractor is fine. If they're a full-time-equivalent engineer working only for you, calling them a contractor is misclassification and creates risk on both sides.
Operational tips when your India team is one
- Treat them as a peer, not an offshore resource. They should feel as integrated as any other team member.
- Make sure they have a real reporting manager who actively manages — not just the founder via async messages.
- Quarterly in-person — even one engineer benefits from in-person time with your US / European team.
- Pay them properly — paying at the bottom of the range because 'they're just one' is a retention disaster.
- Give them visibility — include them in product decisions, customer feedback loops, roadmap planning.
- Plan for hire 2 within 6 months — one engineer alone is fragile. Two creates a real team dynamic.
When to add hire 2
- First hire is settled, productive, and the operating model works.
- You have product velocity demand that one engineer can't meet alone.
- Your first hire is recommending strong candidates (always a good sign).
- Budget supports continued EOR fees + salary.
Frequently asked questions
Is hiring one Indian engineer worth the operational overhead?+
Yes — if the engineer is senior and the role is well-defined. A junior engineer alone is harder to support; senior engineers can self-direct.
What if our single engineer needs to manage themselves?+
Senior engineers can do this. The founder / engineering lead remains the manager but the engineer drives their own work. Common pattern for first hire.
Can we go straight from one to subsidiary?+
No reason to. EOR works fine up to 15-20. Plan subsidiary when scale justifies it.
What about hiring our first Indian engineer through Upwork / Toptal?+
Contractor route. Works for project-based work. Doesn't scale to a true team member.
Stop reading circulars. Start running clean payroll.
Every FastLegal plan ships with a dedicated payroll consultant — a real human who runs your PF, ESI, PT, TDS and Form 16 issuance, configured to your salary structure, your state, and your hiring plan. You sign off. We do the rest.