Desire for global employment is at an all-time high. For workers, it opens the door to detaching work from a single location and unlocking the freedom to work from anywhere. For organizations, it can be the difference between struggling against an acute talent shortage, and building a diverse, distributed, successful workforce. So if you’re looking to develop a global team across multiple countries, perhaps you’ve already looked into how to find a global employment platform that works for you. You may be well on your way to hiring skilled, remote workers from several geographies. But perhaps you still have a few unanswered questions.

• Should I work exclusively with global employment solutions that hire directly?
• Should I work with a platform that offers both indirect and direct hiring services?
• Or is it best to go it alone and set up my own entities in each region of choice?

What is a Global Employment Platform?

A global employment platform is a software solution designed to streamline the hiring process for People Ops teams when they engage international talent. If we're talking about thinking big and global global, you might lack the resources to go it alone—at least at first. That leaves you with a critical decision to make at the start of your global employment journey: Is it best to work with a platform that hires directly in countries where they have entities, or indirectly through local partners? While there’s no one-size-fits all answer, and each hiring model has its advantages, let’s turn this question on its head. While it’s an understandable thought to have when you’re starting off— it’s missing the bigger picture. The real question People teams and hiring managers should be considering is: “How can I ensure the employee experience for my team is consistent, no matter where they’re located?”

Global Hiring Done Right

A robust global employment strategy is about a whole lot more than whether you hire through direct entities or via indirect partners in your country of choice. It’s about knowing you’re backed up by legal experts, no matter where you hire. It’s about the confidence that every member of your team will receive a consistently stellar employee experience. And it’s about being equipped to hire, pay, and take care of your team in a fast, safe, efficient manner. No argument in the direct v.s. indirect discourse can grant assurances in all of these areas. Instead, we need to take a deeper look at the building blocks of global employment—what are the key components that make up a truly successful global hiring program?

We believe the core elements People Ops teams need to hire global talent effectively are these:

• COMPLIANCE: Legal protection and expertise to cover you in your target geographies
• GLOBAL: Whether it’s direct or indirect, the freedom to hire talent from anywhere in the world
• TRUST: The confidence that you’ll receive world-class support wherever you hire
• SPEED: The ability to hire in a fast, scalable way that aligns with your growth trajectory
• TRUST: The confidence that you’ll receive world-class support wherever you hire
• KNOWLEDGE: Staying up to date with the latest information on local employment law and statutory requirements
• EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE: Delighting talent with prompt payment, localized benefits, and a winning employee experience for the whole team

These components make up the foundation of a solid global employment strategy. They’re not exhaustive, but it’s a strong start before making the leap to building a global team. At Oyster, we believe global employment solutions should first and foremost be about people—the People Ops leaders who work tirelessly to look after their teams, and the talented team members who form the backbone of their company.

👉 Learn more about Oyster’s suite of global employment infrastructure designed to make global employment a joy for hiring managers and talent alike