In the early stages of building a product or scaling a business, startups and international companies often rely on freelancers to fill urgent skill gaps. India, with its massive freelance talent pool in tech, design, marketing, and content, has become a preferred destination for such remote hiring.
But as your business matures, you’ll likely reach a point where project-based work isn't enough you need stable, committed, full-time team members. That’s when transitioning freelancers into full-time employees becomes the logical next step.
However, hiring full-time employees in India especially if you're a foreign company without a local legal entity can be complicated. Employment laws, tax compliance, contracts, and payroll systems can create serious hurdles.
That’s where an Employer of Record (EOR) like Mometum91 can help you bridge the gap.
In this blog, we’ll explain why transitioning Indian freelancers to full-time is a smart move, the challenges involved, and how an EOR makes the entire process seamless, compliant, and cost-effective.
Freelancers juggle multiple clients. Full-time employees, on the other hand, offer:
If you're building a product or service that requires iteration and ongoing improvements, a full-time hire is the better fit.
Freelancers may be unavailable due to conflicting client schedules or personal projects. Full-time employees offer better:
This is especially important for agile environments or product teams with overlapping responsibilities.
While freelancers may appear cheaper upfront, hourly rates for skilled Indian freelancers can add up quickly over months.
For example:
The long-term savings are substantial.
If you're not registered as an employer in India, turning a freelancer into a full-time hire isn’t as simple as sending an offer letter.
Here are a few challenges you might face:
To hire full-time employees legally, you need a registered business presence in India. This involves:
Setting this up takes months and thousands of dollars in legal, tax, and consulting fees.
India’s labor code mandates:
Violating these regulations can result in legal consequences or penalties.
As a foreign company, you must:
Doing this remotely is risky without local expertise.
If yes, then they’re a great candidate for EOR hiring.
You define:
Mometum91 helps you craft a compliant offer letter and employment contract based on Indian labor laws.
Mometum91 will:
The freelancer becomes an official full-time employee but without you needing a legal presence in India.
Here are a few common freelancer roles that companies are transitioning to full-time in India:
Note: Mometum91 helps you define accurate market compensation, depending on city, experience, and industry.
If you’ve worked with talented freelancers in India who already understand your business, tech stack, and goals — don’t start over with a fresh hire. Instead, convert them into full-time employees and lock in long-term value.
M91 helps these Ambitious Firms Build Mission-Aligned Tech Teams.