Could Nearshoring Be the Biggest Salesforce Job Trend in 2026?

By now, most of us will have heard about offshoring as a business practice, especially in tech. In many ways, it’s a solution to a lot of common business problems, including staffing costs, a limited talent pool, and operating on a global scale. 

I’ve revisited this topic a handful of times over the last two years, and it has become increasingly evident that offshoring is growing and is here to stay. That being said, what’s happening with nearshoring – offshoring’s antonym – in the Salesforce ecosystem, and could this now be one of the biggest job trends this year?

Offshoring Vs. Nearshoring

Before we dive into nearshoring as a trend, it’s important to understand the differences between nearshoring and offshoring. While they both fall under the umbrella of outsourcing, they do have their distinctions. 

In this post, outsourcing refers to hiring external companies or teams (often in other countries) to handle software development, IT services, or support functions instead of using in-house staff. This is why both nearshoring and offshoring count as outsourcing.

Offshoring refers to relocating business processes or roles to a different country, either through external vendors or a company’s own overseas teams, to reduce costs or access global talent.

Lastly, nearshoring refers to moving business operations or outsourcing work to nearby countries – typically in the same or similar time zones – to balance cost savings with easier collaboration and communication.

As I covered last year, the global offshoring industry is valued at approximately $85B annually, and according to Growth Market Reports, the IT Services outsourcing market was valued at $525B in 2022 and is reportedly likely to reach $1.6T by 2031. 

In the Salesforce ecosystem, businesses have been jumping on the offshoring trend, with companies like Mint Consulting and Pracedo boasting entire offshoring strategies. 

Nearshoring, on the other hand, is a slightly less-talked-about practice, but with its own significant metrics. According to consultancy Bain & Company, 80% of COOs plan to increase nearshoring over the next three years, up from 63% in 2022. 

Nearshoring Pros and Cons

As a practice on the rise, nearshoring opens up doors for businesses much like offshoring does, with its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Understanding them in detail is crucial for businesses that might want to look into this solution further.

Nearshoring Pros	Nearshoring Cons
Cost efficiency: Lower costs than onshore hiring, while often maintaining higher quality than more distant offshore options.	Competition for talent: Popular nearshore locations can become saturated, driving up salaries and attrition.
Time zone alignment: Easier real-time collaboration, faster feedback loops, and fewer delays compared to offshore teams.	Perceived cost–value tradeoff: Stakeholders may question why nearshore is used if the cost savings over onshore aren’t dramatic.
Talent availability: Access to a broader, often highly skilled regional talent pool without the constraints of the local market.	Potential cultural overlap risks: While similar, subtle differences in work style or expectations can still cause friction.

Because nearshoring is very similar to offshoring, it shares a lot of its pros and cons. However, the main differences materialize as a result of the distance of labor. When it comes to offshoring, some of the most popular destinations to offshore include India, the Philippines, and Vietnam. For nearshoring, destinations within LATAM, like Mexico and Brazil, are popular for US-based companies. This means that some advantages can be more significant for offshoring vs. nearshoring, depending on what it is. 

While both nearshoring and offshoring offer hiring cost efficiencies, nearshoring can be costlier due to higher regional salaries. Both widen the talent pool, though the nearshoring pool may be smaller. Nearshoring provides more closely aligned time zones, minimizing disruption. Both face cultural differences, but these are generally less severe with nearshoring than with offshoring.

Nearshoring in the Salesforce Ecosystem: LATAM

It could be argued that nearshoring is a less common trend in the Salesforce ecosystem compared to offshoring, but data suggests that it has been steadily on the rise. 

According to Salesforce recruitment agency Third Republic, nearshoring in the ecosystem has not only been growing, but has centered predominantly on one key area: LATAM. 

Salesforce now drives over $1B in LATAM-related annual revenue according to partner ecosystem estimates, highlighting the region as a strategic priority. This is not necessarily a surprise – countries like Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are popular choices for US companies due to proximity, shared business hours, and a skilled workforce.

Argentina is estimated to have over 5,000 Salesforce professionals, with Colombia and Mexico estimated to have over 10,000 professionals combined. Brazil also has more than 10,000 Salesforce hubs in LATAM, with the majority located in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

Third Republic’s internal data shows that companies that are willing to invest in LATAM nearshoring could benefit from 30–50% savings versus US hiring, with up to $146K in annual savings without sacrificing quality.  

I’m Interested. What Do I Do Now?

If, as a business leader, nearshoring seems like a worthwhile investment for you and your company, then there are a number of ways to get started. One of the most common ways to do this is to work with a consultancy or recruitment agency.

“The biggest reason US businesses should consider LATAM is purely a cost issue,” Mat Roche, the founder of Third Republic, told SF Ben. “They can get great quality talent with 30–50% savings versus U.S. hiring without sacrificing seniority, experience, or technical capability. That’s what we’re finding the savings are.”

If you’re a Salesforce professional in a popular nearshoring location, getting signed up to a nearshoring talent program could open up a world of opportunity. These programs are designed to pair top technical talent with the right businesses and projects, so if you’re able to demonstrate your skills, you could be selected. 

However, it is important to research the programs and talent pools you want to apply for, as these consultancies and recruiters often select the best of the best. For example, only 5% of applicants get accepted into Third Republic’s LATAM talent communities.

“LATAM hiring does come with risk,” Mat explained. “The vetting and management of these hires needs to be done to a higher level than general US hiring because the spectrum of talent is broader.”

Why You Shouldn’t Nearshore

Although there are plenty of benefits when it comes to nearshoring, it is not a one-size-fits-all business practice, so it will not be suitable for every company. This has understandably led to some hesitation surrounding nearshoring – only 2% of companies in Bain’s survey of companies interested in nearshoring have fully implemented their nearshoring strategies – meaning that this isn’t a decision to be made lightly. 

So, if you’re looking to use nearshoring as a means to quickly develop or improve products at a fraction of the price, you might run into problems. As Alcor puts it: “This strategy presupposes that you will neither have direct access to your team nor control over the development process. The result? Poor communication with developers and below-expected quality of the end software due to the lack of feedback.”

They also warn that delegating your product development to a nearshore Salesforce outsourcing partner is a bad idea if you’re on a mission to get more funding. This decision essentially signals to investors that you lack in-house expertise and resources to develop this product, which will negatively affect their funding decision – and you really don’t want that!

Final Thoughts

Nearshoring is a business solution that has been on the rise lately, and if it is going to follow offshoring’s success pattern, it will likely continue growing for years to come.

However, it is not a be-all-and-end-all solution, so it needs to be heavily considered, whether you’re an employer or an employee. There will always be new things to consider, especially as AI skills and projects become more in-demand and companies evaluate their global talent networks.

So is this the biggest Salesforce job trend in 2026? It’s hard to say, but it’s certainly in the running.