IT Outsourcing: Strategies for Governing a Global Workforce

Skilled workers are the backbone of the IT outsourcing industry, and the quality of this workforce directly influences business outcomes.

However, achieving and maintaining this quality extends beyond hiring exceptional talent. It requires a strategic focus on retaining employees and nurturing their unique strengths into valuable assets that meet both current and future client demands.

When your workforce is global, the stakes become even higher. Unique challenges arise, such as managing diverse cultures, overcoming communication barriers, and navigating complex regulatory environments.

To succeed, you must implement global workforce management strategies that maximize worker potential while controlling costs and legal risks.

With Deel as your global workforce management tool, you can standardize your workforce management and integrate with existing systems like Workday. As a result, you’ll achieve scalability, ensure accuracy and compliance, and strengthen operational resilience.

Here are some ways Deel enhances your global workforce management strategy.

1. Source top talent from global labor markets

Success in the IT outsourcing industry depends on the ability to provide clients with the necessary IT skill set. However, innovations in tech are outpacing the development of necessary skills, making it increasingly challenging to meet client expectations.

In fact, 74% of employers worldwide report challenges with sourcing skilled talent. High-skill roles, such as those requiring AI expertise, are particularly difficult to fill.

Failing to deliver the right expertise can result in lost contracts, damaged reputations, and reduced client trust.

By using Deel’s EOR and contractor services, you can access a broader global talent pool while maintaining clear compliance and governance standards. Hire employees, contractors, and freelancers with specialized skills in over 150 countries without the costs of setting up local entities.

In a competitive job market where top talent receives multiple offers, efficient and streamlined onboarding is crucial to securing candidates. Deel enhances the onboarding process by:

• Reducing onboarding time to just 3 days through workflow automation
• Automating background checks
• Localizing contracts and agreements to align with local labor laws, giving workers confidence in their employment terms
• Offering a self-serve platform for workers to upload required documents and complete the onboarding at their own pace
• Providing Slack integration to send alerts for assigned tasks

For new hires needing relocation to your headquarters or clients’ offices, Deel Immigration ensures compliant global mobility with visa support in 70+ countries.

We manage the entire relocation process, including checking visa eligibility, visa sponsorship and expedited processing. New hires can track their visa applications using an in-app tracker and get access to exclusive relocation support discounts.

Deel helped Revolut relocate over 10 employees to countrlies like the UAE and Switzerland, create 450+ compliant contracts, and hire across 16+ countries.

See also: How Expats Strengthen Global Teams & How to Hire Legally

2. Offer competitive compensation

To retain a skilled workforce, you need a comprehensive compensation strategy powered by market research. Deel provides the tools and resources to gather accurate data, enabling you to create a competitive salary structure that includes:

• Skill-based pay tailored to local market rates: Our Salary Insights Tool offers real-time global market rates for various roles. It ensures compensation reflects workers’ unique expertise while remaining competitive within local markets
• Flexible benefits packages: Our Global Benefits Tool helps you identify mandatory, common, and competitive benefits to offer in each country
• Attractive perks: Deel Contractor Perks enables you to provide additional incentives that enhance the overall employee experience. This includes well-being, personal growth, and productivity benefits available directly from the worker’s Deel profile

Additionally, regular market benchmarking maintains your competitive edge as an employer. Use these research tools to assess market rates regularly and make informed adjustments to your pay structures.

PartnerOne accelerated over six global mergers and acquisitions with Deel EOR across nine countries. As a result, PartnerOne now manages its distributed workforce through Deel’s integrated platform and onboards employees twice as fast.

See also: Remote Employee Experience: How to Boost Retention & Productivity

3. Operate global payroll at scale with accuracy and audit readiness

Managing global payroll presents a recurring challenge for IT outsourcing businesses. It involves navigating:

• Different tax regulations and compliance requirements
• Multiple currency conversions
• Varying benefits and pay structures
• Different contractual obligations for outsourced services

Even the slightest errors can lead to delayed payments, compliance issues, or diminished employee trust.

Processing payroll for each country separately using multiple vendors may seem like an option. However, this creates data silos, hinders standardization in payroll management, and limits cost visibility. 

Enterprises benefit from a globally standardized payroll operating model that supports scale, governance, and local compliance. Deel’s global payroll services provide fully managed execution across wage calculations, statutory deductions, benefits administration, and country-specific compliance in 150+ countries.

Payroll teams can coordinate payments across employees, employer-of-record workers, and contractors through a consolidated, controlled workflow, supporting timely, multi-currency disbursements aligned with local requirements.

Workers have the flexibility to access their funds up to 30 days early through Deel Advance or spend conveniently with the Deel Card. For withdrawals, options include Instant Card Transfer, bank transfers, PayPal, Payoneer, Revolut, Wise, and more.

These options give your workers greater control over their finances, enhancing overall satisfaction and engagement.

Additional payroll services from Deel that improve global workforce management include:

• Off-cycle payroll processing to accommodate adjustments without delays on payments

• Payslip generation to reduce admin work

• A dedicated point of contact for each country to support workers in their local language and time zones

• In-house payroll experts with localized expertise in tax regulations and benefits to address any concerns

Integrate Deel with existing systems like Workday and NetSuite, further eliminating data errors and enabling timely reporting. You can compare employment costs across countries in a single currency, analyze spending in specific areas, and much more.

Discover how Gecko Robotics, Inc. achieves a 70% increase in efficiency by using Deel Payroll.

See also: Hidden Costs of Payroll: What’s Draining Global Teams’ Budgets?

4. Maintain a strong security posture for employee data

Protecting employee data is a core enterprise responsibility, particularly in global workforce models where cross-border data flows increase exposure to cyber and access risks. As employee data moves across systems and jurisdictions, organizations must maintain consistent security controls and oversight.

Data breaches not only undermine workforce trust but also create significant regulatory and legal exposure, as data privacy requirements vary by country. Without strong data protection governance, enterprises risk penalties and enforcement actions across multiple jurisdictions.

Use a workforce management system that ensures strong data protection. Deel is fully compliant with GDPR, SOC1, SOC2, SOC3, and ISO 27001. It ensures the highest level of security and data protection, even as employees access the system from different networks.

Data encryption and advanced access controls, including single sign-on and role-based access control ensure that only authorized personnel can interact with critical information.

Our AWS-hosted infrastructure, backed by 24/7 SIEM SOC monitoring, guarantees a secure, scalable, and reliable platform. As your operations grow, Deel adapts to increased demands while maintaining strong security.

See also: Payroll Security: Core Strategies to Improve Resilience

5. Enforce multi-country compliance

Remaining attentive and proactive in complying with relevant laws and regulations minimizes legal risks while building a stable, trustworthy work environment.

However, you can’t rely solely on your HR team to ensure compliant workforce management processes and practices. Keeping up with legal frameworks across multiple jurisdictions can divert their time and resources from other strategic workforce management initiatives.

Deel's Compliance Hub has three core features designed to facilitate continuous compliance with minimal effort on your part:

• Compliance Monitor: Automatically scans and collects the latest regulatory changes globally. It then provides simplified summaries of their impact on your business.
• Monthly Workforce Insights: Analyzes worker data and tracks recent compliance developments. From this, it delivers tailored reports that highlight potential risks and offer actionable insights for proactive compliance management.
• AI-based Worker Classifier: Minimizes misclassification risks by using advanced AI for accurate worker classification assessments. These assessments rely on local employment laws and legal precedents.

Discover how Turing uses Deel to ensure compliance while managing 550 developers from 60 countries who handle both outsourced work and internal projects.

See also: Compliance Challenges Companies Face When Growing Globally

6. Support your global distributed workforce

Ensuring effective remote work involves creating a positive and enriching experience for your workers.

This begins with providing the right tools for your IT workforce to perform effectively. Through Deel IT, we supply your team with the necessary hardware, ensuring they have what they need to work efficiently from anywhere.

We own the entire process, from shipping the required devices to tracking and managing them. With round-the-clock support, your employees always have access to the assistance they need. Features like automated return shipping for offboarded staff and real-time inventory management keep your equipment organized and accessible.

To further enhance remote work, Deel provides convenient access to co-working spaces for your workers. Each location features high-speed Wi-Fi, meeting rooms, and collaborative areas, creating an ideal environment for productivity.

Intentional communication is also vital for creating an engaged remote workforce. By integrating Deel with Slack, you can clearly communicate expectations, check in on workers, and provide timely feedback.

You can create dedicated channels for casual conversations and team-building activities. This helps recreate the sense of community often found in in-person environments.

See also: 17 Top Remote Work Tools & Software for a Productive Team

7. Optimize your workforce through continuous development

IT skills can become obsolete quickly due to rapid advancements in technology and industry practices. To keep pace without incurring excessive recruitment and onboarding costs, your workforce management strategy should prioritize upskilling current talent. Continuous development ensures your workforce remains adaptable and competitive.

However, don’t limit your focus to the company’s needs when designing learning and development programs. Consider the employees’ needs as well. Tailor training programs to match their career aspirations.

According to research by Gallup, 37% of employees choose to leave their job due to reasons relating to engagement and culture. These specific reasons include career development opportunities, unrealistic job expectations, and issues with diversity and inclusion.

Deel offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing career development, performance, and training programs. Through Deel Engage, you can:

• Conduct 360° reviews to identify gaps in employees’ skills and core competencies from multiple perspectives
• Upskill and reskill workers using personalized training and development programs that include both internal and external courses
• Create flexible career paths for employees using competency-based career progression frameworks
• Use Slack plugins to integrate HR tools like Kudos for peer recognition and feedback

Discover how reev replaced four disjointed tools for managing career progression, feedback, growth conversations, and competencies, with Deel Engage.

See also: Enhance Employee Experience with a Unified HR Tech Stack

8. Control workforce management costs

Operating globally requires investments in HR tools and local staff to navigate diverse legal frameworks and region-specific employee relations.

Additionally, seasonal client demands complicate cost management and workforce planning. This often requires extra hires during peak periods, increasing labor costs. On the other hand, periods of decreased demand create excess personnel, leading to unnecessary expenses.

This ongoing need for adjustment makes it difficult to maintain budget control while providing quality managed services.

Two cost-saving strategies implemented with Deel can enhance workforce management efficiency.

1. Leverage our EOR and contractor services to hire and terminate temporary workers

Using EOR employees and contractors to meet seasonal demands helps you avoid costs associated with overstaffing and lengthy hiring processes.

With Deel managing hiring, you can quickly onboard temporary staff during peak periods and offboard when demand decreases. This is achievable with minimal involvement from your internal HR team.

2. Consolidate multiple HR functionalities under Deel’s enterprise-grade workforce infrastructure

This includes:

• Payroll and benefits administration
• Performance management
• Expense management
• Time-off requests
• App provisioning

Deel localizes all features to ensure compliance.

Automating these processes increases operational efficiency, allowing your existing HR team to concentrate on strategic initiatives rather than routine tasks.

See also: Business Expansion Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Success

Streamline your workforce management and engage global workers with Deel

Strategic workforce management is a key advantage in the IT outsourcing industry. With Deel as your partner, you can:

• Hire, onboard, and constantly upskill top global talent to meet current and future client demands quickly and efficiently
• Build a strong employer brand that retains talent through competitive compensation, flexible payments, and a superior remote work experience
• Maintain your business’s reputation through continuous and proactive compliance and powerful data privacy measures
• Remain agile and responsive to market changes by scaling your workforce without inflating costs or overstretching resources

Book a demo with one of our experts to see how Deel can enhance your global hiring and workforce management strategies.