Wed, 4 Sep 2013Singapore leads a list of the top 10 countries for US companies looking to staff overseas operations, due to its low tax and high level of infrastructure, and social development.

With Hong Kong in second place and the UK in seventh, the list was put together by Stipenda, a firm that supports US professional employer organisations (PEO) providing outsourced employment solutions, comparing the US’s top 50 trading partners in 14 metrics, also including free trade agreements with the US, legal system and corruption levels.

Solomon Williams, chief executive officer of Stipenda, says: “A company can live or die by its employees and they should be a major consideration for businesses that are looking to expand overseas.

“People often don’t look beyond the cost of labour, but there are many more areas that need to be considered.”

The full top 10 runs:

1. Singapore
2. Hong Kong
3. Switzerland
4. Canada
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. UK
8. Germany
9. UAE
10. Australia

Venezuela trailed in at the end of the list at number 50.

Stipenda launched in the US in April, founded by Williams, formerly managing director of UK-based umbrella and payroll services firm CPM People.