How to Hire Internationally: A Guide to Global Recruitment

Hiring great talent is increasingly borderless. Though Deel's 2024 State of Global Hiring Report reveals a 104% surge in domestic hires, international recruiting continues to rise.

In fact, 82% of new hires made through the Deel platform are for remote positions. This underscores the growing trend of remote work and the ability to hire talent without geographical limitations.

However, expanding your hiring strategy internationally involves navigating complex challenges. You must ensure compliance with local labor laws, global payroll regulations, and varying international benefits standards.

At Deel, we recognize these complexities, having supported countless organizations in successfully establishing diverse, compliant, and thriving global teams.

Throughout this guide, you’ll learn how to manage global employment challenges expertly. Whether through establishing compliant contracts, streamlining payroll processes, evaluating contractor versus employee roles, or accurately calculating salary expectations.

Equipped with Deel's insights, comprehensive compliance knowledge, and tested expertise, you’ll confidently scale your international recruitment efforts. You’ll unlock a wider talent pool, achieve a more diverse workforce, and position your organization for significant growth.

Understand the compliance challenges of international recruitment

Searching for new hires across the globe ensures you find the best talent. But before diving into the international market, it’s essential to understand a few unique challenges:

• Entity formation to hire employees
• Compliance with local labor laws
• Global payroll and taxes
• Global benefits administration

Entity formation

The traditional way of hiring international employees legally in another country is to set up a local legal entity. However, this approach can be complex and resource-intensive.

An alternative method is using an Employer of Record (EOR) service. An EOR enables companies to:

• Legally hire employees in a foreign country without setting up their own legal entity
• Ensure compliance with local laws and labor regulations
• Handle payroll and other HR tasks

Using an EOR can be particularly beneficial when:

• Testing and expanding into global markets
• Wanting to hire full-time employees without opening a subsidiary
• Needing to ensure compliance with foreign labor laws
• Lacking resources to perform research and operations in-house

By partnering with an EOR like Deel, companies can save resources, reduce compliance risks, and streamline the onboarding process for new employees in foreign countries.
If you decide entity formation is the best course of action, Deel also provides entity setup services to streamline the process.

Discover how ShopBack hired skilled talent in countries without entities with Deel.

See also: Pros and Cons of Hiring with an Employer of Record (EOR)

Compliance with local labor laws

Your international employees are subject to their home country’s labor laws, not the country where your organization operates. To be a truly global organization, you must generate contracts and conduct work that follows local labor laws, including:

• Worker classification
• Minimum wage
• Annual leave
• Termination requirements
• Tax and employment documentation

The bulleted list is just the tip of the iceberg. Each country’s labor laws are complex and constantly evolving, and non-compliance has severe consequences

Discover how Cake saved +$3k per hire in compliance costs with Deel.

See also: The Key to Continuous Company Compliance in Today’s Global Landscape

Global payroll and taxes

Hiring international candidates requires fine-tuning your global payroll system. Global payroll is the centralized process of calculating employee wages. It involves considering exchange rates, withholding taxes, and sending money across borders in accordance with local laws.

The complexities of global payroll may mean you need to find new solutions. Most in-house payroll managers cannot learn and manage multinational payroll. Your options are to:

• Hire a team that can understand various international payroll laws
• Outsource to a third-party payroll provider wherever you hire
• Partner with a global payroll provider for extensive country coverage

Discover how Gecko Robotics, Inc. increased efficiency with Deel Global Payroll.

See also: Streamline Payroll for 2025: Steps to Smoother Processing, Compliance, and Security

Global benefits administration

In addition to different labor and payroll regulations, you can expect different countries to come with other benefits requirements. For example:

• Most European countries require employers to offer paid vacation days, health insurance, retirement contributions, long-term disability coverage, and paid parental leave
• Most Asian countries guarantee employees pension insurance, parental insurance, unemployment insurance, medical insurance, and work-related injury insurance
• Many African countries ensure employees have paid time off, parental leave, long service leave, paid sick leave, and unemployment insurance
• Australia promises employees paid time off, parental leave, long service leave, paid sick leave, and superannuation
• Some countries in Latin America mandate that employees have access to dental care, retirement plans, paid time off, medical care, and 13th-month salary

Discover how Bowtie Life Insurance attracts and hires global talent with Deel.

See also: Guide to a Competitive [and Compliant] Global Employee Benefits Plan

Consider hiring international independent contractors

In some cases, hiring international independent contractors instead of international employees may be more beneficial.

Independent contractors are self-employed. You don’t have to worry about payroll taxes, local employment laws, and mandatory benefits like you do with employees.

Be careful of worker misclassification

International contractors receive fewer protections and benefits than employees. Therefore, many governments have put protections in place to prevent businesses from calling every worker a contractor.

A common protection is worker misclassification. This refers to hiring (and compensating) someone as an independent contractor when they are managed like an employee. Worker classification can lead to hefty fines and possible jail time.

Discover how Project44 gets peace of mind and saves around $500k a year since switching to Deel Contractor of Record.

See also: Employee Misclassification: Contractor vs. Employee

Sell potential candidates on your remote company culture

Branching into new international markets isn’t just about HR logistics and legal requirements. Your talent strategy must include developing a strong employer brand and selling candidates on your company culture.

Due to the large number of unfilled positions, job seekers can be more selective about their workplace choices. Offering competitive compensation, benefits, and perks and fostering a strong company culture is essential to attract candidates. Establishing an effective company culture is crucial in a remote work environment. The success of this effort relies heavily on using tools like Deel Engage that promote team engagement and collaboration.

Discover how Sweep seamlessly manages a remote and globally dispersed team with Deel.

See also: 2025 Guide On Hiring And Managing Remote Workers

Calculate locally competitive salaries

When broadening your talent pools to incorporate international candidates, it’s essential to understand the nuances of local economies to ensure competitive compensation that considers the cost of living and the cost of labor. Additionally, you’ll need to factor in the salary and any legally mandated benefits packages. Your offerings must align with local standards and expectations.

For example, Portugal recently introduced new labor regulations, including a statute that employers must reimburse remote work expenses like higher electricity and internet bills. Therefore, if you wanted to hire in Portugal, you’d have to offer a competitive salary and have the capital to reimburse their remote work expenses.

Simplify your salary research and let us help you calculate competitive offers for your new hires with Deel Salary Insights.

See also: 10 Fair Employee Compensation Strategies For Global Teams

Expand your international recruitment channels to access a global talent pool

If you want success in expanding your talent acquisition efforts globally, you need to consider new sourcing strategies. Of course, LinkedIn is a great place to start, but there are so many other options for sourcing top global talent.

Each country will have different success rates for different sourcing channels. In some countries, a newspaper ad may get you the most responses. In others, advertising jobs on social networks and social media are more effective.

If you have a target country in mind, you can research the most popular job boards in the region. For example, Near is popular in Argentina, while Workana is more popular in Brazil.

Another option is to have your hiring managers explore professional networks for specific types of professionals or underrepresented groups. Slack groups like Women in Sales or Superpath for content marketing are great options.

See also: A Guide to Finding Global Talent

Implement training and systems to reduce bias during the hiring process

One of the best things about hiring international candidates is that you can greatly diversify your workplace. McKinsey statistics show that businesses with a diverse workforce outperform their non-diverse competitors by 35%. Reducing bias in your recruitment process improves the quality of your company’s work, leading to increased revenue.

Educate your recruiting team on hiring bias

Your human resources team is the core of your recruitment strategy, meaning reducing hiring bias begins with them. Your HR professionals may not even realize they hold biases when considering candidates.

Many hiring biases stem from affinity. For example, when the interviewer meets someone from the same school, it can create a connection. They might remind them of their younger self or share similar interests. It doesn’t necessarily mean they are the right person for the job.

Educate your recruitment team on eliminating hiring bias. This could mean having your employees take an online course or hiring a professional for a seminar. Another option is to hold a team meeting to brainstorm ways to hire without bias.

See also: 12 Examples of Unconscious Bias & Ways to Overcome Them

Rethink your job descriptions

Check your copy for unintentional biases before publishing your job description on any job board. For example, you might say, “He possesses...” instead of “This person will...” It’s important to be clear about role requirements while remaining neutral. Use words that don’t suggest a particular gender or race. It might also mean loosening the requirements to attract candidates with non-traditional backgrounds.

Some companies include a statement encouraging people to apply for a job even if they don't meet all the requirements. This evens the gender playing field since men are more likely to apply for a role even if they don’t fit the requirements.

See also: Free job description templates for sourcing the best talent

Familiarize yourself with local customs and norms

Before you begin an international hiring process, you must understand the target country’s traditional customs and workplace culture.

You need to be aware of your tone in both your job descriptions and interviews. Some cultures may expect a more formal tone, while others prefer a more laid-back approach. It’s also best to use fewer idioms and references in job descriptions and international communication in general. These are often culturally specific.

Finally, remember that some candidates may not feel comfortable sharing their skills or successes. In some countries, people highly value humility. You may need to restructure your interview questions to ensure you get the answers you need to ensure a good fit for the role.

See also: 30+ Ways to Promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Workplace

Consider a collaborative interview process

A collaborative hiring approach can significantly reduce bias in the recruitment process. By involving multiple individuals in interviews, you gain diverse perspectives on each candidate, enhancing the decision-making process.

Engaging various team members at different stages of the interview helps mitigate confirmation bias, allowing for a more comprehensive evaluation. This method not only fosters a fairer selection process but also increases the likelihood of identifying the best talent for the role.

See also: 30+ Internal Interview Questions to Ask Your Applicants

Use applicant tracking and onboarding technology

Coordinating interviews with multiple candidates across time zones and overseeing many applicants at once can be challenging. That’s why using technology is key.

Consider an HR platform with a built-in Applicant Tracking System (ATS). A global ATS stores applicant information and conducts preliminary screenings for qualified candidates. You can easily group candidates based on their work experience and skills. You can also manage the candidate’s journey from first correspondence to hiring.

Once you have found your perfect candidate, use automated workflows to streamline the onboarding process. This will make their transition to your company smooth and easy.

Discover how Finder reduces HR admin by 20% and cuts onboarding time in half with Deel.

See also: Onboarding Remote Employees: 10 Best Tips for Managers

Simplify international hiring with Deel

There are many benefits of hiring internationally. However, building an international team can be time-consuming and complex. Luckily, Deel is here to make it easy.

Deel is everything your organization needs to hire, pay, and manage a global workforce. With our all-in-one platform, you can:

• Pay anyone, anywhere, in minutes
• Expand your team and hire globally
• Consolidate your HR operations
• Simplify, speed up, and scale global IT operations
• Set your team up for success with performance tools
• Attract and retain talent with work visa and immigration support

Sound like the ideal solution? Book 30 minutes with a product expert to get your questions answered.