Introduction
The world has changed irreversibly since the pandemic, and one of the most significant changes is the way we work.
With the rise of remote work, many businesses have had to adjust to a new way of hiring — global remote hiring! In this blog post, we want to chat with you about the benefits of remote hiring during the current downturn. We’ll take a look at how global talent acquisition can help you tap into a wider talent pool, save on costs, cover new markets and time zones, increase diversity, give access to a very niche talent, as well as open opportunities for employees.
So grab a coffee, sit back, and let’s explore global remote hiring together!
Benefits of Global Remote Hiring
In today’s interconnected world, companies of all sizes have access to a global talent pool. The benefits of global hiring are numerous and can help businesses gain a competitive edge. From access to diverse skill sets and perspectives to cost savings and market and time zone coverage, global hiring is quickly becoming a popular strategy for companies looking to expand their reach and improve their bottom line.
Below are some of our observations on what benefits global remote hiring can offer.
1. Access to a much larger pool of tech talents
With the current economic downturn, the economy is struggling in some sectors. However, across the globe, there are still lots of jobs and roles for which there is a big shortage.
In this sense, cross-border hiring can be a great solution since you are no longer limited by your local talent pool: you go beyond the borders of your city and country. By hiring globally you get your hand in an excellent yet under-utilized global talent pool.
As Valerio Rossi, CEO of Workfully, put it during the Global Hiring in the Downturn webinar:
All the recruiters and HR people understand immediately the advantages of getting a larger talent pool. But sometimes they struggle to transmit that value and fact to internal stakeholders, hiring managers and so on.
According to him, a useful way to think about the opportunity of a global talent pool is from an analytical and numerical standpoint.
So for instance, imagine you are a company — and this is a real example — that hires back end engineers or data engineers in Milan or New York. If you want to access the top 5 percent of that talent in New York and Milan, that would make a talent pool in the order of 10s of people or maybe a few 100 people maximum. But if we go in the same time zones but in different countries, from a numerical standpoint, of course, we are increasing that top 5%, even by one or two orders of magnitudes. Now we’re talking about a talent pool that is in the order of thousands. So instead of hiring the top 5%, maybe we can go to the top 1%.
Thus, access to top talent is quite justified in numerical terms. Companies that understand this advantage and try that in practice get immediate results in terms of talent quality, raising the bar when it comes to hiring, performance, etc.
So what we’ve seen essentially is that with the forcing environment of COVID a lot of traditional companies that didn’t recruit remotely and then started doing that went global. And, well, they’re not coming back. For example, this company, which was hiring engineers in Milan and New York, told us they experienced a very palpable increase in the overall level of the technical and the CTO team.
To sum up, once you get the power to access that global talent, it doesn’t make sense to go back to a smaller talent pool and get access to smaller choices in terms of talent.
2. Cost optimization
Another opportunity that global hiring provides is optimizing costs because the cost of employment is not the same all over the world.
This means that in some countries the cost of living is lower, and salary expectations are correspondingly lower.
However, in other countries, the cost of employment is high due to compulsory employer contributions and payroll taxes. For instance, countries such as Germany, France, or the United States require employers to contribute to the statutory health insurance system through payroll deductions. In contrast, New Zealand and Finland offer public healthcare systems not requiring any contributions from employers.
So, if executed in the right way, companies can overall optimize the cost of certain roles and substantially reduce their payroll burden, getting relief in terms of talent budget.
3. Market and time zone coverage
Historically companies have suffered a lot from losing clients because of the lack of 24/7 availability. But with global remote hiring time zone coverage is no longer a problem.
As Huw Sensier, Talent Acquisition Manager at Deel explains:
This can impact companies in several ways, whether that’s ensuring that you have an in-house customer support team, that can cover the times that your clients and users are awake. Or maybe it’s to ensure that you have a dev-ops team that is able to ensure 99 plus uptime without needing an on-call schedule or a router.
And with a remote team available 24/7 in multiple locations, it is much easier to go international and grow your market.
Referring to this, Daniel Eisenberg, Head of Expansion at Deel, points out:
So, for instance, if I’m a Swedish company and want to build support, I can put in 18 people in the office in Stockholm, which has some unique benefits to it, of course. But if I decide to split the team between 5 different hubs, one in Stockholm with 6 people, another one in Asia with 6 people, and also 6 people in North America, all of a sudden I had an opportunity to create a 24/7 coverage with the same type of resources. In today’s globalized environment I think this becomes more and more important because the globalization component means we as a lot of companies can go international very very fast.
This is especially realistic in the current situation of economic downturn, when companies can capitalize on the talent which became suddenly available as a result of layoffs, back-to-office policy, or other reasons.
Thus, with remote hiring you can ensure market and time zone coverage for your customers and grow faster than ever with the top talent you never had access to.
4. Increased diversity and inclusion
Hiring globally can give you a competitive edge in terms of more diversity and inclusion. According to Forbes, “diverse teams deliver 60% better results and make better decisions in 87% of cases” (Source: FDM).
With a diverse team on board, you can get access to international knowledge and experience and drive your company towards greater success and more profits.
5. Access to very niche talent
Global hiring is particularly important when the stakes are very high in terms of talent. This is true, for instance, in the case of highly technical teams or where companies are looking for kinds of people who have a really specific skill set. As Workfully’s CEO, Valerio Rossi, points out:
For instance, think of web3 companies. They look for smart contracts, engineers and so on. It would be unthinkable for them to hire just in one city, when you have 10 people max. with that skill. Before, global hiring was more of an advantage, but today, it’s almost a necessity.
6. Opening opportunities for people
Lastly, remote work is about opening up opportunities for underrepresented people. With all the tech advancement, now it is possible to work for the global market sitting in a village in Cambodia or anywhere else.
Referring to this, Daniel Eisenberg notes:
[By] hiring across the globe, I think we also make the world a little bit better because we give opportunities to people that may not have them in their country.
Thus, in this sense, global hiring is a win-win both for companies and talent.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, remote hiring has become an essential aspect of modern talent acquisition, providing a wide range of benefits to businesses looking to expand their global reach.
In fact, it’s important to realize that remote work is not part of the future, it’s already part of now. So with the right approach and mindset, remote hiring can be a powerful tool for businesses looking to stay competitive in an increasingly globalized marketplace, where remote will soon become the new normal.
Workfully's mission is to create the most trusted recruitment experience in the world, aiming to give everyone their chance to build a better world. We are building a decentralized hiring ecosystem for the talent acquisition industry, where recruiters can independently grow, engage and monetize curated talent pools for the benefit of all.