Boosted by the increase in international employment, global expansion seems to be everywhere. Case in point: Comparably shows that Squarespace is making inroads around the world. Rahi enters Africa. And Elsevier is heading deeper into India.
It’s not hard to see why organizations would want to get big. Going abroad opens doors to untapped talent pools and enthusiastic audiences. However, penetrating unknown markets on the other side of the planet can be fraught with pitfalls. Some of these challenges can be quite difficult to overcome.
Consider all the different international labor laws, for example. Regulations can vary widely, not only from country to country, but also from municipality to municipality. Companies are dealing with this issue in the United States, of course. However, with expansions to foreign countries, this problem can be more difficult to navigate and solve.
Another hurdle is determining fair and equitable wages. The value of currencies is not 1:1. So what happens when a North American based company wants to expand its presence in the UK? Or the Czech Republic? Or Japan? How are salary expectations holding up? And with so many workers clamoring for better wages because of inflation, yesterday’s wages no longer necessarily match the “going rate.”
Then there is the enigma of culture. Building and managing an international workforce involves assessing and merging the needs of people from a wide variety of backgrounds. Concessions have to be made when so many people from unique experiences come together.
In other words, it is not enough to want to globalize. You have to put effort into the process. And part of your efforts should include thoughtful planning and well-thought-out partnerships with organizations like Remote.
From a distance: Guiding clients through trouble spots of international expansion
The remote serves as the official international employer for the companies it works with. As an employer of record, Remote helps companies onboard employees in other countries by hiring those employees through Remote’s own local legal entities. So while employees may work for Company ABC, Remote acts as an on-paper employer, while managing other HR functions such as payroll, benefits, tax withholding, stock purchase and compliance.
How does this work in practice? Suppose your brand wants to start doing business in Lisbon, Portugal. It is an excellent choice and is becoming a much sought-after location for expansion. The main point or problem occurs because you don’t necessarily want to go through the process of opening a legal entity there. Instead, you just want to hire employees who live in Portugal.
Rather than taking on the extensive HR administrative work in-house, you would work with an Employer of Record (EOR). Not only do you bypass the need to establish a local legal entity or hire global contractors, but you also get all the benefits of hiring an employer of record. Here’s how Remote helps businesses overcome the challenges of international expansion.
1. Your payroll deliveries will be simplified.
No matter where your workers come from, they all want to be paid on time and in the right amount. Unfortunately, this can be very difficult to achieve if you are trying to pay employees who live overseas. Not only is it difficult to calculate real-time exchange rates, trying to juggle holds can feel overwhelming.
Working with an EOR like Remote ensures that all workers get the money they expect when they expect it. As a result, your employees stay satisfied and you never have to deal with costly payroll errors.
2. Your business will remain compliant as it grows.
As mentioned earlier, countries have specific rules on everything from employee working hours to acceptable benefits. Staying compliant would require you to learn and follow all the rules for each workplace of your employees. While not an impossible task, compliance requires quite a bit of legwork and financial outlay to get it right.
Since Remote is used to working overseas, they follow all employer laws. If anything changes, the Remote team knows it. In other words, you don’t have to spend all your effort or resources to reduce your risk. Remote assumes the compliance risks of international employment on your behalf.
3. Administrative burdens on your staff will be reduced.
You may be a small business unable to successfully integrate foreign employee documents into your feed. Or, you may have enough people on your administrative team to manage the ins and outs of an international workforce. Anyway, you want to add yet another task on the plates of your administrators?
Many of the people who handle your payroll and HR documents have in-country skills and knowledge. However, most will not be experts on topics such as foreign taxes or worker classifications.
Perfecting them appropriately would probably be prohibitively expensive. Additionally, they may find it difficult to fit their new responsibilities into the old ones. Remote makes sure they can focus on doing their best without being overworked.
4. You can quickly integrate international workers.
It’s no secret that the US job market is tight. As a result, many organizations are going out of the country for talent. Setting up payroll, benefits, and more for all workers can be a time-consuming process.
It only takes longer when you try to integrate workers from other countries. Even if they speak your language, some aspects of international employment may have cultural differences across borders. As a result, your internal employees could spend countless hours helping new colleagues. It’s just not effective.
Remote has local expertise in over 60 countries around the world, which means you can hire like a local, wherever you go. So imagine how impressed your international recruits will be when you can deliver a streamlined, culturally informed onboarding process that demonstrates how much you want them to enjoy working for your company.
One thing is certain. You want to hire the best people possible, no matter where they live. As an Employer of Record, Remote gives you the freedom to achieve these ambitious goals, positioning your company not just as an industry leader, but as a global industry leader.
Image Credit: Vanessa Garcia; pexels; Thanks!
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