Your Trusted Partner for Recruitment in Guam

To better fulfill your recruitment needs, we at Remote People are here to help you find top talent in Guam more effectively than recruiting on your own. Our team understands the local language, customs, and the intricacies of the Guam talent market, giving you a significant advantage in securing the right candidates.

We know where to advertise your job openings to ensure maximum exposure and attract the best talent. Additionally, we assist in designing competitive, locally-appropriate compensation packages that not only appeal to top candidates but also help you optimize costs. 

Get in touch with us to navigate Guam’s recruitment landscape with confidence and ease.

Key Takeaways

  • Guam is a small island territory of the US in the South Pacific.
  • The main industries in Guam include tourism, construction, and extraction, in addition to the US military.
  • Guamanians are US citizens who can legally work for US companies.
  • EORs and recruitment agencies can help employers source talent effectively.

Guam is a small island in the South Pacific that was once a Spanish possession and is now an unincorporated territory of the United States. The largest of the Mariana Islands, this remote territory acts as a strategic site for the US military and is also a popular tourist destination.

It’s home to just 169,532 people, the equivalent of a medium-sized American city, with the population made up mainly of Pacific Island and Asian peoples. As a part of the American economy, this territory is tied to the developments of that global juggernaut. At the same time, its local economy is now rebounding after a severe pandemic-related downturn.

Guamanians can be highly sought-after employees for both American and foreign-based firms. That’s in part because Guamanians are US citizens and can be hired by local or mainland-US-based companies just like citizens anywhere else.

In this review, we’ll look at the different reasons companies for hiring Guamanian workers and the different methods they can use to source labor in this territory.

Overview of Guam Recruitment Industry

With such a small population, the labor force in Guam is likewise comparatively small, at just over 80,000 people. After a serious decline during the global pandemic that hit tourism on the island especially hard, unemployment is back down.

In 2023, the local unemployment rate was 5.42%, which represents a healthy labor market that’s not overly tight. There are still plenty of Guamanians looking for new work or to change their employment, and this provides hiring opportunities for new employers in the territory.

Guamanians are likewise employed in a healthy range of industries, including the agricultural, industrial, and services sectors. The highest employment fractions are in office and administrative support (14.1%), construction and raw material extraction (11%), food preparation and related services (10.9%), management (86%), sales (7.4%), and transportation (7.1%).

At the same time, these numbers do not represent the jobs of a large proportion of workers in Guam – military personnel – who are not considered local employees and are not counted in statistics. The US military is a major employer and hosts over 20,000 service personnel and families in Guam. Tourism is Guam’s primary industry, and it caters largely to visitors coming from Japan and, to a lesser extent, South Korea.

A large proportion of Guamanians are employed in related services. Guam is both a part of the US economy and also separate from it. Taxes collected from both civilian and military spending here go directly into the Guam Treasury instead of going into the US Federal Treasury.

This gives the government the funds it needs to finance local projects and deliver necessary services. The minimum wage in Guam is also higher than that in the US. It has been $9.25/hour since 1 September 2021. However, average wages are lower here than in the continental US.

The average hourly wage for a worker in Guam is just $20.59/hour compared with the national average of $31.48/hour. This means that, in general, you can hire workers in Guam more affordably than in the US. While many Guam workers still find employment through personal networks and private contacts, the majority of them have moved to search for jobs online.

According to the Government of Guam itself, sites like HireGuam, Indeed, Monster, LinkedIn, and SimplyHired are the most popular places Guamanians look for employment. However, they’re also highly active on social media, so this is an important part of any recruitment strategy. You can build your employer brand and post vacancies through the top platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter (X).

Recruit in Guam

Guam offers a bilingual workforce with strengths in military contracting, tourism, healthcare, and construction, with professionals fluent in English and Chamorro.

We source pre-vetted candidates across industries, handling local recruitment processes and US territory labor compliance requirements.

No local entity needed. Your team can start in days.

FIND TALENT

What are the Benefits of Recruiting in Guam?

There are many reasons why organizations would want to hire Guamanian employees. They may be expanding into this overseas market or could simply want to hire people to work remotely from Guam before committing to such a move. Guamanian workers are considered valuable and sought after for the following reasons:

US Citizens

Unlike in other countries in the world, Guam workers are, by and large, US citizens. This means that they can be easily managed and administered by US firms that already work with US employees. Their taxes, deductions, and entitlements are all going to be familiar to US-based HR managers.

Affordable Workers

While the minimum wage in Guam is higher than in the continental US, the average wage is less than two-thirds of that of their national counterparts. This means it’s usually more affordable to hire Guamanians than other Americans.

Language Skills

The official languages of Guam are the local Chamorro language and English, which is essentially universal. This helps to enable smooth communication with overseas employees. Guamanians also speak Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese, which makes them valuable for organizations doing business in the wider Asian region.

What Legal Considerations Apply when Recruiting in Guam?

When you’re recruiting in Guam, you need to be aware of the particular rules and regulations that cover hiring and employment in this territory. Though largely similar to those in the rest of the US, like the Fair Labor Services Act (FLSA), Guam also has independent laws that must be followed.

The most important laws to be aware of include Title 22 of the Guam Code Annotated Chapter 3: Fair Labor Standards and Title 17 Guam Administrative Rules Chapter 4: Minimum Wage & Hour Regulations. Some of the most relevant points of these laws include:

Contracts

Contracts must comply with both US and Guam labor laws. They must state the terms of employment, including the location of work, period of employment, description of the work, working hours, and compensation. Contracts can include probationary periods of up to three months in length.

Working Hours and Overtime

Workers in Guam work 40 hours per week or eight hours a day for five days a week. Overtime can extend these hours and should be paid at a rate of 150% of normal wages. Guamanian workers are not entitled to annual leave or paid public holidays by law. However, it is typical for employers to offer both to keep their compensation packages competitive.

Parental Leave

Guamanians are entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in the case of a birth or adoption. Both parents may avail themselves of this leave, during which their jobs are protected.

Social Security and Medicare Contributions

Employers must contribute to old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) and Medicare. The employer must pay the equivalent of 1.45% of the employee’s salary for Medicare and 7.65% for OASDI, and these contributions must be matched by employees.

Terminations

Terminations in Guam, as in the rest of the US, are “at-will,” meaning that either party may terminate a contract at any time and for any reason. This also means that it is not necessary to provide employees with notice periods or severance pay, though these conditions may be written into their contracts.

How to Choose a Recruitment Agency in Guam

When looking for a provider that can help you with your recruitment function in Guam, you can choose between recruitment agencies and Employers of Record (EORs) that also provide recruiting services.

However, there are a lot of service providers out there, so it’s worth keeping in mind the following factors to help you select the best choice to partner with your organization:

Price

Recruitment costs money. Luckily, you can cut costs by working with a professional recruiter who should be able to find you appropriate candidates faster and more efficiently than you could by yourself. Look for providers who give you clear pricing and guarantee not to hit you with hidden extra costs later in the process.

Experience and Industry Expertise

Not all recruiters’ advertising services in Guam will have actually sourced talent there in the past. Many providers cast a wide net and then work with third-party partners when they need to recruit in new countries.

Instead, look for an established agency with a proven track record of recruitment, specifically in Guam. You may also be more specific and look for a provider with lots of experience in your particular industry to help you find the most appropriate candidates for your positions.

Reviews

While people are more likely to post negative reviews than positive ones, you can still use these to differentiate providers. Look for real criticisms that may warn you away from a certain provider while also being aware of stories of issues that were successfully solved, as these speak to positive customer service.

Reliability

A long-established agency is much more likely to be trustworthy and to help you protect your data and privacy, and that of the applicants coming your way.

Recruiting Guam Employees

Guam may be far away, but as a territory of the US, it can actually seem a lot more familiar than you’d imagine. In general, recruitment in Guam is very similar to the rest of the US, and the rules and regulations for hiring you need to follow are almost identical.

At the same time, Guamanians have a lot to offer and can be generally hired more affordable than their mainland US counterparts. If you need help recruiting in Guam, contact Remote People today and find out how this professional recruiter can help you source talent in just a matter of days.

Recruit Top Talent Across Asia-Pacific with Our Recruitment Expertise

Navigating the complexities of hiring and workforce management across different countries can be challenging. Partnering with a reliable recruitment agency ensures you stay compliant with local labor laws, streamline the hiring process, and secure top talent. Learn how Remote People can help you recruit in the following countries:

Recruitment Coverage in Asia-Pacific
ArmeniaAustraliaBali
BangladeshBhutanBrunei
CambodiaChinaFiji
GeorgiaGrenadaGuam
Hong KongIndiaIndonesia
JapanKazakhstanKiribati
KyrgyzstanLaosMacau
MalaysiaMaldivesMarshall Islands
MicronesiaMyanmarNauru
NepalNew ZealandPakistan
PalauPapua New GuineaPhilippines
Pitcairn IslandSaint Kitts and NevisSaint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesSamoaSingapore
Solomon IslandsSouth KoreaSri Lanka
TaiwanThailandTimor-Leste
TongaTrinidad and TobagoTurkmenistan
TuvaluUzbekistanVanuatu
Vietnam  

Ready to expand your team in Guam? Remote People’s recruitment services offer tailored solutions to meet your hiring needs. Contact us today to discuss how we can help your business grow in Guam.