How Immigration Trends and the Global Contingent Workforce Can Drive Business Growth

Shifts toward remote work, persistent skills shortages, and globalization are influencing immigration policy and contingent workforce models. These dynamics have accelerated digital nomad visa programs, skills-based immigration pathways, and return migration initiatives—all of which are increasingly relevant to organizations managing globally distributed teams at scale.

Organizations that proactively align workforce strategy to these trends can improve speed to hire, reduce compliance exposure, and maintain access to critical skills across markets.

In this article, we examine key immigration trends and the evolution of the global contingent workforce to help organizations strengthen workforce resilience and execute international growth with greater adaptability.

1. Proliferation of digital nomad and remote work visas

The expansion of digital nomad and remote work visas presents new workforce flexibility as well as governance considerations. Countries such as Portugal and Estonia have introduced visa programs that allow individuals to reside locally while working for foreign employers, typically without employer sponsorship.

While these visas are worker-sponsored, enterprises must still assess tax exposure, worker classification risk, and data security implications when engaging talent operating across borders.

Here are the key advantages of digital nomad and remote work visas for enterprises:

• Access global talent without establishing local entities: Organizations can engage skilled professionals operating under digital nomad visas without relying on entity creation. This supports market entry and short- to mid-term workforce needs.

• Reduce administrative and compliance burdens: Since the digital nomad visa is obtained and maintained by the worker, the company is relieved from visa sponsorship responsibilities and immigration compliance in the host country. This streamlines the hiring process and minimizes legal risks.

• Expand the global talent pool: Digital nomad frameworks enable flexible access to specialized skills across regions, supporting project-based and time-bound workforce needs.

• Optimize mobility spend: Compared to traditional expatriate assignments, organizations can reduce relocation costs and ongoing immigration compliance costs while maintaining continuity of work.

• Increase workforce diversity and regional insight: Hiring remote workers from various countries enriches the company's cultural diversity, fostering innovation and a broader understanding of global markets.

Read more about How Digital Nomads Can Contribute To Enterprise Growth

2. Shift toward skills-based immigration

Governments are increasingly prioritizing skills-based immigration programs to address labor shortages in high-impact sectors. Initiatives such as Canada’s Global Talent Stream, the UK's Skilled Worker Visa, and Australia’s Global Talent Visa prioritize applicants with specialized skills in sectors such as technology, engineering, healthcare, and finance. These programs often feature expedited processing times and more straightforward application procedures.

For organizations managing complex workforce portfolios, these programs offer a way to secure scarce capabilities while maintaining flexibility in employment models.

How can businesses leverage this trend?

• Fill critical skill gaps quickly: Gain rapid access to specialized expertise that may be unavailable domestically. This accelerates project timelines and enhances competitiveness.

• Improve speed to hire: Skills-based immigration programs often offer faster visa processing times, reducing delays in onboarding key talent and allowing companies to respond swiftly to market demands.

• Support innovation at scale: Global specialists bring domain expertise and diverse perspectives that foster innovation and enhance execution.

• Enable flexible workforce planning: Engaging skilled workers on a contingent basis allows companies to scale their workforce according to project needs without long-term employment commitments.

• Extend global operating reach: Skilled international professionals often strengthen regional networks and market intelligence, providing deeper insight for new business opportunities.

See also: Bridging the Talent Gap in the AI Industry: Hiring and Managing Global Contractors

3. Return migration policies

Return migration policies aim to attract skilled professionals back to their home countries through incentives such as tax benefits, financial support, and simplified bureaucracy. 

Organizations can leverage these policies to retain experienced contingent workers while supporting their geographic mobility preferences.

Here’s how global organizations benefit from this trend:

• Support workers' relocation preferences: Allowing contingent workers to return to their home country while continuing their role remotely can help retain talent who might otherwise resign to pursue opportunities locally.

• Preserve institutional knowledge: Supporting return migration enables businesses to retain experienced workers with specialized skills critical to ongoing projects.

• Enhance global network and market insights: Workers returning to their home countries can provide valuable insights into local markets, customer behaviors, and cultural nuances, benefiting the business’s international strategies.

• Demonstrate corporate social responsibility: By supporting return migration, businesses show respect for workers' personal choices and contribute positively to global workforce mobility trends, enhancing their reputation as socially responsible employers.

• Reduced employment costs: By facilitating return migration, businesses may benefit indirectly from government incentives offered to returning workers, such as reduced taxation or subsidies that can lower employment costs.

Case study: How Quantium retained top talent with Deel Immigration

4. Rise of global people platforms

As immigration models and contingent workforce strategies evolve, organizations are moving away from fragmented, vendor-heavy approaches toward standardized global workforce infrastructure. 

Platforms like Deel support this shift by providing a central execution layer for hiring, classification, payroll, and mobility while integrating into existing HR and finance systems. Deel integrates with widely-used platforms such as Workday, SAP, and NetSuite so that you can optimize without overhauling.

Here’s a range of solutions offered by global talent platforms, and how they benefit companies’ bottom line.

Employer of Record (EOR)

EOR services enable organizations to engage talent in new markets without entity creation, while maintaining local compliance and operational continuity.

Key benefits include:

• Fast access to skilled talent through alignment with skills-based immigration programs

• Localized compliance covering employment laws, taxes, and benefits

• Reduced administrative burden by eliminating the need to set up local entities

Contractor of Record (COR)

Contractor of Record (also known as Agent of Record) services streamline the compliant onboarding of international contractors, ensuring proper classification and avoiding misclassification risks. This solution is especially valuable for companies tapping into the global remote workforce through digital nomad visas. 

Benefits include:

• Compliant contractor onboarding across multiple regions with local legal compliance

• Risk mitigation through reduced co-employment and misclassification exposure

• Workforce scalability by hiring contingent workers without long-term commitments

Visa and immigration support

Visa and immigration support provides structured guidance and execution support for organizations navigating complex mobility requirements.

Key advantages include:

• Country-specific visa and permit guidance aligned to skills-based immigration trends

• Access expertise on immigration compliance for smooth hiring and relocation of specialized talent

• Support for workforce mobility during growth, restructuring, or M&A events

Global payroll

Global payroll solutions provide standardized payroll execution with local compliance, supporting multi-entity, multi-country workforce environments.

Benefits include:

• Multi-currency payment capabilities to manage diverse international teams

• Automated tax compliance and invoicing for accuracy and efficiency

• Improved auditability and payroll accuracy on a global scale

See also: Paying Your Contingent Workforce: Optimizing Payroll and Payment Methods

Global IT management and device support

Managing devices across a distributed workforce requires visibility, security, and control, particularly for contingent and remote teams.

Solutions like Deel IT streamline device procurement, setup, and tracking, ensuring new hires are ready to work from day one.

Key advantages include:

• Device procurement and deployment in over 130 countries to support a global workforce

• Automated device tracking and management to maintain visibility and control over IT assets

• Secure, pre-configured devices with MDM (Mobile Device Management) for secure onboarding

• Faster workforce readiness during onboarding and redeployment

See also: How Deel IT Saves Time & Money at Every Stage of the Device Lifecycle

Support your contingent workforce and drive global growth with Deel

Deel provides the infrastructure organizations need to operationalize global contingent workforce strategies—without disrupting existing HR, finance, or IT systems.

By combining owned global infrastructure, native payroll engines, and structured immigration support, Deel helps organizations manage workforce risk, improve visibility, and maintain momentum during expansion, transformation, or regulatory change.

Ready to scale strategically? Book a demo with an expert to see how Deel supports enterprise-grade workforce execution.