Building for what comes next: A letter from Deel's CEO

What our data shows

AI trainer roles grew 283% in cross-border hiring last year. That's the fastest growth we've ever tracked for any role. The third-fastest was also in AI training, up 125%.

These are workers who label data, provide feedback, and help refine AI system outputs. This is a job category that barely existed three years ago.

Compensation growth concentrated in leadership and technical roles. Project managers led at 24.5%, followed by COOs at 21.6% and CEOs at 20%. AI engineers, ICT help desk agents, presales engineers, UI designers, and account managers followed.

The top three roles globally were software developers, sales managers, and business developers. Core strategic hires, not back-office functions.

Remote workers are moving back toward major cities. Average distance from metros peaked in 2022 and has declined every year since. In the U.S., workers are now as close to New York, LA, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco as they were in 2021. Still remote, but choosing proximity anyway.

Immigration restrictions are redistributing talent

The U.S. tightened H-1B visa rules in February. Canada capped international student permits. The UK raised salary thresholds for skilled worker visas.

Governments are tightening borders, and companies are dissolving them.

When the U.S. made it harder to bring talent in, companies started hiring those same people remotely in their home countries. Can't relocate an engineer to San Francisco? Hire them in London or Buenos Aires instead.

Look at what’s happening right now: OpenAI just announced their first permanent London office in April, with space for 500+ employees, making it their largest research hub outside the U.S. Days later, Anthropic followed with an 800-person London expansion. Jeff Bezos’s AI lab is also in talks for London office space. All this within the past two weeks.

This is proof that distributed teams are built by design instead of visa battles.

The prediction that immigration restrictions would slow global hiring was wrong. Companies just changed where they hire. The talent pool doesn't stop at your border.

Junior talent has an AI advantage

Everyone keeps saying AI will eliminate entry-level jobs. The opposite is happening.

Gen Z workers who grew up with these tools are outperforming senior employees who treat AI like a novelty. A 23-year-old developer using Claude and GitHub Copilot ships faster than a 15-year veteran who refuses to touch them.

The experience premium is flipping. Skills matter more than years, and adaptability beats credentials.

Junior workers who are AI-native have an unfair advantage right now. They're not scared of the tools. They use them as the default workflow, not for special occasions. That gap compounds fast.

What we're building

Many platforms still optimize for the old model: help companies find cheaper labor in cheaper markets.

We're building infrastructure for a different reality. Companies need to hire the best person for the role, regardless of location, pay them in currencies that make sense for their situation, all while staying compliant as regulations shift across 150 countries.

The opportunity

The next 18 months will separate fast companies from slow ones.

Immigration restrictions look like obstacles, but they’re forcing smarter global strategies. AI adoption looks scary, but it’s creating advantages for workers who adapt quickly. Remote work has matured past the hype phase, and workers now have real leverage to choose where they live and how they work.

Companies that hire globally, focus on skills, and move fast will build compounding advantages.

Speed compounds. We've only scratched the surface.

Alex