What if you could work with the world's best talent, instead of only people within your city or country? Accessing the global talent pool is a great way to find specialized skill sets, overcome talent shortages, and build more diverse teams. With modern communication and collaboration tools, it's now easier than ever to build a borderless team. Having an international team may even be a competitive advantage, helping to drive creativity and innovation by bringing together diverse experiences, perspectives, and skill sets.
But even if you're excited about the idea of building a global team, you may be wondering how it all works. How do you find and evaluate candidates internationally? How do you set them up for success and ensure a good employee experience?
You'll also need to think about collaboration across time zones and keeping your distributed team engaged. Most importantly, how do you ensure compliance with labor laws and tax regulations in different countries?
These are all great questions—which is why we created an Oyster guide to hiring global talent. So, if you're considering global hiring for the first time but need a little help getting started, this guide is for you. Whether you're looking to scale quickly, expand into new markets, or need a specialized skill set, below are the key elements to help you take the next step.
Interested in hiring internationally, but not sure how? Get started with our free guide!
Understanding Global Hiring: Strategy and Business Case
Global hiring is the practice of recruiting and employing talent from anywhere in the world, not just your local market. It's more than a recruitment tactic-it's a business strategy that lets you access expertise where it exists, rather than where you have an office.
A strong global hiring strategy can help you build a more diverse, resilient, and innovative team. It enables you to enter new markets with local knowledge and provide support to customers across different time zones. By framing global hiring as a strategic advantage, you can get buy-in from finance and leadership to build a truly borderless team.
Legal and Compliance Fundamentals
The biggest hurdle for most companies is navigating the web of international labor laws. Each country has its own rules regarding:
- Employment contracts and worker classifications
- Statutory benefits and pension contributions
- Termination procedures and notice periods
- Payroll taxes and withholding requirements
Getting this wrong can lead to misclassification risks, fines, and a poor team member experience.
Before you make your first offer, it's essential to understand the compliance landscape in your target country. While it sounds complex, you don't have to become a global legal expert. The key is to have a plan and a partner to ensure every hire is made by the book, protecting both your business and your team.
1. Sourcing and Hiring Global Talent
There are skilled and experienced professionals everywhere, and fortunately there are many ways to connect with them:
- Job boards and websites: Post remote positions on global platforms
- Pre-vetted talent platforms: Access candidates already screened for remote work
- Recruitment agencies: Work with specialists in global talent acquisition
- Talent partners: Connect with firms specializing in specific regions or skills
The hiring process for remote candidates will, in many ways, be similar to hiring locally. It will involve the usual stages of sourcing, advertising, screening, role and skills assessments, interviews, and an offer stage, regardless of the candidate's location. But there are some key differences. Interviewing candidates based in other countries and time zones will require careful coordination and a greater reliance on digital tools and systems to track applications, schedule and conduct interviews, and more.
2. Evaluating International Candidates
To ensure fairness and reduce bias when evaluating global talent, it's important to create a standardized process with objective criteria focused on skills and competencies. This keeps the emphasis on the candidate's abilities rather than the name recognition of the companies on their résumé. Job descriptions, too, should focus on the specific skills and experience required to succeed in the role.
When interviewing candidates, ask questions that will help you assess readiness for remote work. On a global team there might be communication challenges or delays due to time zone differences.
Ask candidates how they handle working independently when they don't have all the information they need. The goal is determining whether they can work effectively and autonomously in a distributed workplace.
3. Classifying Workers Correctly
When working with global talent, you might decide to onboard someone as a full-time employee or as an independent contractor. It's important to understand the difference so you can figure out what's most appropriate for your needs and avoid misclassification risks that can potentially lead to legal headaches later.
Unlike full-time employees, contractors are often engaged for specific assignments or short-term projects. Here's how they differ:
| Employees | Contractors |
|---|---|
| Fixed hours set by employer | Choose their own schedule |
| Use company equipment | Use their own tools |
| Receive benefits | No benefits entitlement |
| Employer handles taxes | Responsible for own taxes |
4. Onboarding Remote Team Members
Once you've found your perfect candidate, you'll need to ensure a good remote onboarding experience that's tailored to the needs of globally distributed employees. Ideally, you'll want to design a consistent and inclusive experience across borders and time zones.
The onboarding process might include taking care of paperwork, a checklist they can work through at their own pace, introductory calls to get to know the team, software and security training, and more. You might also assign an onboarding buddy who can answer questions and help the new joiner get up to speed. A well-designed and welcoming onboarding experience goes a long way to ensuring a strong working relationship.
💡 Curious about hiring around the world with Oyster? Get started with this quick on-demand webinar.
5. Managing Teams Across Time Zones
Managing remote teams can present some challenges. You might face information silos, communication gaps, and team members feeling isolated.
However, you can head off these challenges by adopting good remote work practices:
- Detailed documentation: Break down information silos
- Digital collaboration tools: Keep everyone on the same page
- Async communication: Let people work when colleagues aren't available
To combat isolation, it's helpful to build social time into the team calendar so that people have opportunities to interact and build meaningful connections. Make well-being a priority and encourage team members to take time off to rest and recharge.
6. Creating an Inclusive Workplace Culture
When your team is spread across geographies, fostering a strong and inclusive working culture becomes even more important. Being inclusive of global employees might mean leaning into asynchronous communication to share information and updates.
This way, people aren't left out due to being in a distant time zone. Record meetings for those who can't attend, and whenever possible, let discussions and decision-making happen asynchronously.
Prioritizing inclusion also means celebrating the diversity of experiences and perspectives within your team. This might include:
- Localized benefits: Adapt perks to each country or region
- Cultural holidays: Let people take time off for their local celebrations
- Flexible scheduling: Allow work to fit around personal and family needs
In fact, our research shows that flexibility is a top workplace expectation for knowledge workers post-pandemic.
Start Building Your Global Dream Team With Oyster
Want to learn more about the basics of hiring globally? From talent partners and software tools to best practices for onboarding, team culture, engagement, and more—we've got you covered. Check out our guide to hiring global talent so you can feel confident making your first global hire.
When you're ready to start building your global dream team, turn to Oyster as your global employment partner to help you hire, pay, and provide benefits regardless of location. With Oyster, you can compliantly engage talent from 180+ countries. You'll also have access to the tools, knowledge, insights, and guidance you need to attract and retain top global talent. Reach out today for a personalized consultation to discuss your needs and goals.
Book a demo to learn more.Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Started With Global Hiring
How Long Does It Take to Hire Someone Internationally?
Timeline varies by approach: setting up your own entity takes months, while using an Employer of Record (EOR) allows you to hire compliantly in as fast as 48 hours.
Do I Need to Set Up a Legal Entity in Every Country Where I Hire?
No, an EOR partner like Oyster acts as the legal employer on your behalf in countries where you don't have an entity. This lets you hire full-time employees without establishing a legal presence yourself.
What's the Difference Between EOR, PEO, and Setting Up Entities?
EOR is for countries where you have no entity, PEO is co-employment where you do have an entity (like the U.S.), and setting up entities gives full control but costs the most time and money.
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