How Staffing Agencies Can Simplify Contract Hiring with an Employer of Record

The staffing industry saw mixed results in 2023. While some agencies reported little to no growth, others experienced significant expansion.

What was their secret? Recent research suggests the fastest-growing companies owe their success to tech-enabled solutions. These tools enhanced their workforce management, allowing them to access talent more quickly and refine their service offerings. After their unprecedented success in 2023, many are doubling down on their initial investment in 2024.

Many agencies say selecting and implementing the right technology is holding them back. Introducing new tools can cause widespread disruption if they’re not integrated well.

Our guide walks you through how to develop a comprehensive workforce management strategy supported by the right tools. Discover how Deel lets you hire across borders, reduce inefficiences, and scale your processes all while maintaining compliance.

1. Instantly access global talent

Half of staffing agencies say they’re struggling to find candidates due to the tight labor market. The only way to overcome these local talent shortages and keep meeting client needs is to hire abroad.

However, speed is everything in the staffing industry. If you wait until your company is set up in a foreign market to hire, you’ll keep losing talent to competitors. You risk wasting resources and damaging trust with clients in the process.

The key is to develop more efficient global hiring practices with the support of an Employer of Record (EOR) service. You can eliminate geographic barriers to hire candidates within days.

EOR services like Deel let you hire from anywhere without the need to establish a legal entity. They essentially become the defacto employer. While you retain control over your day-to-day operations, they handle all the HR, payroll, and compliance.

There’s no need for any back and forth with the provider. Top solutions like Deel allow you to manage hiring and onboarding via the centralized dashboard. All you have to do is click the ‘Add person’ button and input all of their details into our system.

The same applies when a client wants to formally hire one of your workers. Deel just requires you to select the person and explain why they’re leaving the company.

2. Maintain compliance across borders

Staffing firms must maintain compliance with all the jurisdictions and industries they operate in. This becomes increasingly complex the more countries you hire from.

Compliance issues can have widespread and far-reaching consequences. Your company could ensure significant fines for violations like invalid work permits and worker misclassification. While you bear all the legal risk, clients and workers are likely to experience some of the fallout, making them less inclined to partner with you in the future.

That’s why the best EOR services build compliance management into their solutions. Deel has a range of tools that help you stay updated with regulations and apply them across your organization:

• Classification: Deel Shield categorizes workers and advises you on their status
• Regulatory updates: Our Compliance Hub helps every Deel customer stay updated with all the relevant tax and labor laws
• Contract generation: Deel generates compliant contracts based on each candidate’s role, industry, and location
• Background checks: You can automate candidate screening to thoroughly check they’re suitable for client companies
• Document management: You get notifications about upcoming document expiry and renewal dates so you don’t miss key deadlines

Plus, Deel has a team of localized legal and accounting experts on hand to assist you. If you encounter any unique or complex challenges, they can guide you through them.

3. Navigate global payroll and tax requirements

Partnering with an EOR can simplify compensation management across multiple countries. Top providers like Deel integrate localized payroll and benefits features into their system.

One of the top concerns is tax compliance. Most jurisdictions set their own withholding rates, reporting schedules, and payment deadlines for employers to follow. Sometimes these even vary according to worker status, job type, and industry.

Another top consideration is local payroll laws. Countries often require you to pay workers at a set frequency and using certain methods. For example, you must run payroll at least twice a month for all your California-based employees.

Deel Global Payroll calculates all these payments and sends them according to local compliance requirements. It generates all the relevant tax forms and documentation in the process. HR teams just have to review the information in the system and make any last-minute adjustments if desired.

4. Administer benefits for a diverse global workforce

Arranging benefits for a fluid workforce can be challenging. Requirements are likely to vary if you serve companies across different industries and locations.

As workers change placements, you must review and potentially adjust their benefits. A small change in role could mean they qualify for different plans. All this adds to the complexity of the task and increases the risk of compliance issues.

With an EOR like Deel, you can access local benefit packages that comply with local regulations. We can negotioate deals at volume to get you competitive deals.

To streamline the process, Deel filters workers based on their eligibility and your requirements. They can then self-enrol via the platform. Deel has a specialized tab where they can review all the available options and select their preferences.

5. Develop seamless, scalable processes

Expanding overseas calls for more standardised and efficient operations. Any inefficiencies in your processes could lead to bottlenecks as your system grows and becomes more complex.

Most staffing agencies say they’re turning to automation to support growth. This software can significantly reduce the amount of repetitive, manual tasks your firm has to manage. For example, Deel enables you to automate:

• Onboarding and orientation
• Contract generation
• Payroll and tax calculations
• Benefits enrollment and administration
• Compliance notifications
• Expense management
• Terminations and offboarding

In the staffing industry, candidates may need to follow disparate processes due to varying client needs. One common issue is terminations, which can be based on laws, industry standards, or internal policies.

Deel lets you create automation for each one using our custom workflow builder. You can select the triggers and filters for each action to give you fine control over what happens to candidates in the system. As processes change, you can easily adjust the settings.

6. Build a cohesive global team

A centralized solution can help you unify workers scattered across different locations, time zones, and placements. Using the same system, everyone can access the same tools and resources and communicate with one another.

This allows you to build a cohesive team even if many employees are spending months or weeks focused on work at another company.

Choose an EOR provider with global coverage to reap the full benefits. If even a few workers or teams can’t access the system, there’s still a risk of fragmented systems and data silos. Connecting everyone via the same platform means there are no barriers to communication or productivity.

However, it’s important to control and monitor who accesses the systems. As a staffing firm, your system is likely to store a lot of sensitive employee and customer data. Deel has highly granular permissions and controls so you can decide which roles see what without affecting your operations.

7. Create a frictionless employee experience

Streamlining operations can help you hold onto top talent. Research shows some of their main reasons for leaving staff agencies are slow, unclear, and complicated processes.

Here are the ways a tech-enabled solution like Deel can reduce friction and facilitate global team management:

• Automated onboarding: Deel’s automation takes workers through onboarding with step-by-step instructions, verifications, and digital forms. This reduces the confusion and delays they might experience when enlisting with your agency
• Self-service: Employees can independently manage their own documents, payroll forms, and benefits. There’s less need for them to wait on HR and they have more control over processes
• Mobile access: You can allow teams to access vital information from anywhere with the new Deel app
• Team management: Deel has a range of communication and collaboration tools via its Slack Plugins. You can arrange everything from check-ins and meetings to shoutouts
• Surveys: Anonymous questionnaires let you measure engagement levels and uncover issues. This gives you a chance to resolve them and improve the employee experience
• Pay on demand: Many candidates work at staffing agencies as a temporary measure due to the challenging economy. Giving them early access to pay gives them more control over their finances and perhaps more stability
• Equipment provisioning: You can order everything employees need to perform their jobs and send it to their work location ahead of their first day

Deel also makes it easier to build standardized processes. By having everyone use the same tools, there’s less confusion and disagreement about how to perform various tasks.

8. Access key insights for strategic decisions

Companies no longer look to staffing agencies to just fill positions. As most businesses come to rely on contingent workers, they need you to offer strategic solutions.

Data analytics lets you go beyond matching people to roles. Use these tools to understand workforce trends and see what’s working well and which areas require improvement. These insights can help you make more informed and timely decisions that benefit you and your clients.

One common example is forecasting client needs. If you can see a specific region or area is experiencing high turnover, you can hire more candidates to fill the upcoming vacancies.

Deel’s HR analytics can deliver all the insights you need, including:

• Growth rate
• Turnover
• Average tenure
• New joiners and leavers
• Compensation
• Paid and unpaid time off

Deel makes it easy to filter these metrics to produce custom reports and dig deeper into workforce trends. For instance, you can categorize by gender, role, job type, or country.

Partner with Deel for seamless workforce management

As the industry heats and cools, staffing agencies must become agile to capitalize on opportunities before they disappear. They can’t afford to have operational inefficiencies, data siloes, or outdated tech.

Only global solutions like Deel give you the flexibility and oversight you need to develop an effective workforce management strategy.

Deel EOR keeps your staffing company agile by:

• Providing access to foreign talent markets
• Standardizing global hiring
• Automating workflows and reducing friction
• Simplifying payroll, tax, and benefits processes
• Maintaining compliance with tax, payroll, and labor standards
• Centralizing workforce management

Interested in how Deel can support your staffing agency’s growth? Book a 30-minute call to learn more and get questions answered.