The majority (76%) of UK companies are struggling with recruitment, according to data from the British Chambers of Commerce’s Quarterly Recruitment Outlook report. Vacancies in the digital tech sector are proving particularly hard to fill.
But HR leaders who think laterally about their recruitment strategies may be able to turn such challenges into opportunities by hiring highly educated talent from outside the UK. Doing this through an employer of record (EoR) simplifies the hiring process while avoiding complications such as visa applications and the establishment of foreign entities.
Firms that have adopted this approach are stealing a march on their rivals in the war for talent, according to Bastian Eichler, vice-president of product at WorkMotion, a global HR platform.
“If you want to stay competitive and have a hiring process that enables you to access a great group of candidates, you have no choice but to look abroad. It’s non-negotiable,” he says, stressing that companies that fail to do so “will fall behind”.
British firms have done this for decades, of course, but usually by requiring overseas recruits to move to the UK. Using an EoR gives them far more flexibility by enabling employees to remain in their country of residence. It greatly expands the recruiter’s pool of foreign talent, enabling it to attract candidates who don’t want to become expat workers.
Similarly, companies that have employees who want to work overseas – or, indeed, return to their native countries as many wanted to do after Brexit – can retain valued team members by allowing them the flexibility to relocate abroad. It also means that UK-based firms can access the vast pool of new graduates in the EU with degrees in information and communication technology, thereby helping them to close the digital skills gap.
If you want to stay competitive and have a hiring process that enables you to access a great group of candidates, you have no choice but to look abroad. It’s non-negotiable
The big proviso, of course, is that they need to let their new foreign recruits work remotely – a level of flexibility that will be too much for many employers to allow.
“Businesses are being very restrictive again,” Eichler says. “But the number one benefit the younger generation are seeking is flexibility. They want to work from anywhere.”
If employers are to avoid alienating talented candidates from generation Z, they should accept that some may insist on working remotely and so give them that option, he suggests, adding: “Even if not every company sees this as the best solution, it may be the only solution.”
Some employers may be persuaded by the financial arguments, given that more than two-thirds (68%) of firms surveyed for the BCC report cited labour costs as a significant pressure.
Given that wages are relatively high in the UK, hiring and employing people abroad would enable British firms to pay locally appropriate wages, which should reduce their overall labour costs, Eichler suggests.
The other key challenge that HR teams may face when hiring overseas is the paperwork. Contractual obligations, legal stipulations, compliance requirements, payroll challenges and other such concerns can be significant when a firm is recruiting abroad. But all this can be simplified by operating through an EoR.
WorkMotion’s EoR service WorkGlobal is a digital tool that streamlines the process, enabling HR leaders to focus more on strategic matters and less on operational headaches.
“We’re able to generate a locally compliant employment contract digitally. We did this in a record time of 11 minutes from the moment our customer started the process to the moment it was signed by the talent,” Eichler says. “There are lots of steps in between that are usually very manual and led by HR ops teams. We use technology to make this easier and to achieve an unmatched time to hire.”
The system will then follow the individual throughout their employment, simplifying payroll, benefits, expense claims and other processes. WorkMotion’s WorkDirect solution is their unique alternative to the classic EoR model and helps European businesses to hire employees in a direct and flexible way, without any contractual intermediary while still avoiding the hassle of setting up an entity.
Recruiting the best people is not only a practical issue; it’s also one that affects a business’s long-term strategy. Any firm will benefit if it can attract highly capable employees and retain them. By trawling the broadest possible talent pool and closing their skills gaps, HR leaders can turn hiring from a challenge into an opportunity.
To find out how WorkMotion automates tedious onboarding processes and enables companies to onboard talent from over 160 countries in a quick, easy and compliant way, visit workmotion.com
