The pandemic propelled us into a new world of remote and distributed work where the ‘workplace’ is no longer confined to any single location. And with work no longer bound by location or geography, it also opened up the possibility of employers seeking out the best talent anywhere—not just within a 30-mile radius, but anywhere in the world.
In this new era of knowledge work, global remote employment will become the norm, and the companies that survive and thrive will be the ones that position themselves to win the war for global talent. Building a globally diverse team is also better for business as research shows that companies that are diverse and inclusive perform better than those that aren’t.
As the global talent war heats up, being able to hire from anywhere will be a major differentiator and a competitive edge. However, hiring across borders presents a host of legal and administrative challenges due to each country having their own particular employment and tax laws that you would have to navigate.
The good news is that you can use a global employment platform to overcome these challenges and gain access to the best global talent.
What is a global employment platform?
A global employment platform (GEP) is a cloud-based People Ops software solution that makes it possible for companies to scale a global team quickly and compliantly. HR and People teams can use a GEP to hire and onboard team members, manage local payroll and taxes, offer localized benefits and equity, ensure IP protection, and so on.
A GEP provides an end-to-end solution so that companies can build a diverse and globally distributed workforce without having to worry about the legal complexities of tax or labor laws in other countries. A GEP abstracts away those layers of complexity so that People teams can focus on finding top talent and growing their team. The company pays a subscription fee to the GEP which then takes over the legal and administrative burden of hiring, paying, and taking care of the Team Members providing services to the client company.
From the team member’s perspective, a GEP provides a consistent and seamless employee experience for both full-time employees and contractors—no matter what country they’re in. They get locally compliant contracts, remittance in their local currency, and access to localized benefits such as health insurance and statutory time off.
A global employment platform like Oyster provides this critical HR infrastructure in 180+ countries around the world. You can read more about what we offer and see how it works.
Why do companies need a global employment platform?
A global employment platform solves the legal, administrative, and logistical challenges of cross-border hiring. If a company wants to hire an overseas employee on their own, they would need to set up a legal entity in that country, and hire lawyers and accountants to navigate the local tax, payroll, and employment regulations. This is a time-consuming and expensive process, in addition to being fraught with risk. By partnering with a GEP, companies can avoid the compliance headaches and reduce the risks of having overseas employees.
A global employment platform like Oyster has legal entities in every country where it operates, as well as legal teams with country-specific knowledge and expertise, which ensures that contracts, payroll, taxes, benefits, and so on are compliant with local or regional laws and regulations. It saves People teams from unnecessary hassle and expense so they can focus on finding the best talent and providing the best employee experience.
For example, Oyster’s global employment platform enabled Juno to hire folks in the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Israel, and they’re now actively looking for talent around the world.
In the coming years, GEPs like Oyster will become an essential part of a company’s HR tech stack, working in tandem with the ATS, payroll, and HRIS software they already use.
How is a global employment platform different from a PEO or EOR?
A global employment platform like Oyster is a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that brings together all the benefits of an EOR/PEO, HRIS, payroll, and workforce management into a single platform that is fully automated, provides global coverage, and is optimized for speed and compliance.
A GEP is similar to an Employer of Record (EOR) or Professional Employer Organization (PEO) in terms of serving as a legal intermediary that confers employment between companies and their overseas team members. However, the services of EORs and PEOs have traditionally been more bureaucratic, high-touch, and non-digital. Oyster’s global employment platform, on the other hand, is fully automated and offers an intuitive digital experience for both the client company and the Team Member, ensuring fast and compliant service as well as a fair and consistent employee experience.
If you want to know more, check out this article about the different kinds of global employment solutions, and this explanation of PEOs, EORs and other acronyms from the Oyster legal team.
Conclusion
Global employment platforms are the next frontier for companies that want to scale international teams quickly and compliantly. They open up the possibility of not just finding the best candidates in the world, but also building teams that are potentially as diverse as planet Earth.
Oyster’s global employment platform was created with the mission of creating a more equal world by enabling companies everywhere to hire people anywhere. Guided by our social impact thesis, we believe that a globally distributed future of work will be more equitable, sustainable, and human-centric. We recently published our 2022 Annual Impact Report to hold ourselves accountable to our social mission, and we are currently in the process of getting certified as a B Corporation.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits and capabilities of global employment, check out Oyster’s Global Employment Assistant: an interactive guide to the tools, information, and resources you need to start building a thriving global team. And when you’re ready, check out Oyster and reach out anytime.
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform that empowers visionary People Ops leaders to manage and care for a thriving global workforce. Through its compliant hiring process, streamlined payroll, and localized benefits offerings, companies can bring talent aboard no matter where they're located.