Embracing technology is essential for business and talent sustainability. A sustainable model ensures adaptability in a digital era. Forward-thinking leaders prioritize tech-enhanced strategies for sustainability, preparing for unforeseen challenges. This focus on tech-enhanced solutions fosters a resilient, sustainable workforce equipped for the future.
The COVID-19 pandemic, despite its unprecedented challenges, acted as an accelerator for technology adoption in various sectors. New tools and strategies like remote working and advanced project management tools rapidly emerged, transforming the business landscape. The technology-driven momentum was further fueled by significant hiring initiatives from tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet, which collectively increased their workforce by over 875,000 people globally.
This pivotal era has fundamentally reshaped how businesses function, employees perceive work, and the value of having robust HR infrastructure. It has brought about a multitude of benefits for both employers and employees, simplifying communication with global teams, enhancing flexibility through hybrid work arrangements, facilitating global recruitment, and broadening access to new markets.
In this post-pandemic landscape, the imperative to compete has grown stronger. Tech companies are often seen restructuring to reduce costs, highlighting the importance of staying competitive. Gartner’s latest research identifies HR technology as a top investment priority, offering new avenues for businesses to maintain their competitive edge.
Leveraging HR Technology for Global Expansion
One key way HR technologies bolster business competitiveness is by making global expansion more feasible. A recent HSBC poll of over 2,000 mid-market enterprises across 14 markets revealed that two-thirds planned to expand internationally in the next 12 months. HR technology empowers businesses to scale across borders, opening doors to new markets and audiences.
Additionally, HR technology plays a vital role in international recruitment. Skill shortages have been a pressing issue for many businesses, with one in five SMEs in the UK identifying it as a major obstacle to success in 2023. International recruitment enables companies to tap into a vast talent pool and bridge skill gaps with the best talent regardless of their location. This approach can also prove more cost-effective, as different regions have varying salary and benefit expectations.
However, global expansion and international recruitment bring logistical challenges. They can be expensive and complex, involving legal and administrative fees, navigating regional compliance laws, and handling employment contracts, payroll, taxes, social security, and benefits.
So, how can efficiency-minded businesses harness these benefits without incurring significant expenses and future vulnerabilities?
This is where the right technology, particularly an Employer of Record (EOR) platform, comes into play. An EOR combines key HR innovations into a single platform, encompassing recruitment, team management, and the establishment of international operations.
EORs: Streamlining Global Expansion
An EOR service provider takes on the legal, HR, tax, and local compliance responsibilities for a company’s employees in regions or countries where the company lacks a legal entity. The EOR becomes the legal employer, using its local business entities to hire employees, thus absorbing the legal risks while granting control over employees and operations.
The responsibilities of an EOR service provider may extend to payroll and tax management, visa and immigration assistance, local support for employment matters, guidance on notice periods and termination regulations, and data insights on global employment trends. These services simplify global expansion by reducing the complexities associated with setting up a formal entity in a new country.
The Power of the Right Technology
At Atlas, EOR services are facilitated through a centralized Human Experience Management (HMX) platform that prioritizes both employee and employer experience. For overseas employees, it ensures correct and compliant hiring, on-time payments in local currency, and access to features like learning and development, local employment guidance, and visa and immigration support.
For employers, the platform centralizes people operations, streamlining onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, and more, eliminating the need for multiple third-party providers or platforms.
Partnering with an EOR service provider allows businesses to initiate hiring in new markets within weeks, significantly reducing the time, costs, and complexities associated with establishing a formal entity in a new country. This approach offers a transparent fee structure, simplifying the process and reducing costs, making it easier to scale up or down according to demand.
A Solution for Today and Tomorrow
Historical data from past economic downturns emphasizes that the path to success lies in achieving growth through efficiency, rather than through severe cost-cutting. Businesses that strike a balance between cost-cutting to survive in the present and investments for future growth tend to perform well post-recession.
The right EOR platform can help businesses strike this balance by enabling sustainable and flexible expansion. This puts them in a favorable position to future-proof their operations and thrive in the post-pandemic landscape.
Conclusion
As technology-driven trends reshape the business world, leveraging HR technology and EOR platforms is an effective strategy for future-proofing businesses and talent. By streamlining global expansion and international recruitment while maintaining cost-efficiency, companies can navigate the evolving business landscape with confidence.
