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Reimagining Global Workflow Practices in The New Globalization Era

We are in the midst of a time of significant growth for the global employment services market worldwide. The market is projected to grow by approximately $269.5 billion, powered by a compounded growth of 5.1%. A major factor behind this is the fact that as the economy globalized, companies suddenly had the ability to take… Read more Reimagining Global Workflow Practices in The New Globalization Era

We are in the midst of a time of significant growth for the global employment services market worldwide. The market is projected to grow by approximately $269.5 billion, powered by a compounded growth of 5.1%. A major factor behind this is the fact that as the economy globalized, companies suddenly had the ability to take advantage of talents based anywhere in the world. Fast forward to today, and we are facing another global change.

With the gig economy being reshaped, the same multinational companies need to rethink their working practices. This includes areas like:

  • Hiring/managing a contingent workforce
  • Creating new remote work practices
  • Putting together globally distributed teams.

Here’s a closer look at the pain points this is creating, and how your company can tackle them.

The Evolution Of International Employment

The advent of the gig economy provided a new opportunity for global workers. They could provide their talents to all types of companies all over the world. However, COVID-19 has altered this significantly. Suddenly, companies that are engaging remote global workforce have opened themselves up to a whole new level of employment changes and ensuing tax liabilities. This has added up to a variety of other compliance and misclassification risks that were in place in various countries even before the pandemic.

The gig economy, which a lot of companies used to power their international teams, has been turned upside down due to the advent of COVID-19. Now, it’s a far more preferable choice to look into proper employees that you can invest in for the long-term. However, with that shift come additional considerations. If you have teams in multiple countries, you need to make sure you are compliant with each country’s set of labor rules to avoid being penalized.

Compounding this is the restructuring of the global workspace due to the advent of COVID-19. Suddenly, remote/contingent workforces are the only option since there is no other way to work. Even for traditional businesses that prefer conventional operations, this is the only option possible. For example, an international sales professional that goes to different countries to pitch offerings is now limited due to existing travel bans/limits.

How Companies With A Global Presence Can Reevaluate

Your company has already likely made adjustments due to COVID-19. You should be equally attentive to other new practices as well. Every company is likely to have its own contingent workforce, especially as the global market grows. It’s best that you get ahead of the curve, not just in having global teams, but the mechanisms to manage them.

When we talk about the ideal way to deploy your global workforce 100% compliantly, many companies were only pondering working with a Global Employer of Record/Global PEO service. In a post-COVID business world, though, that’s becoming more of a necessity than a luxury.

If you’re looking for an ideal partner in this endeavor, look no further than Acumen International. Our International PEO and Payroll service lets you hire, manage, and payroll all your foreign teams, without needing to set up your own legal entity abroad.

Without a Global PEO, you need a legal entity to stay in regulatory compliance. However, there are a lot of barriers to actually creating one, especially the rapidly shifting in-country labor laws.

At Acumen, we service over 190 countries and can help provide key services like hiring, onboarding, as well as managing taxes and benefits. We help you provide complete confidence for your foreign teams in any country. We also guarantee:

  • Cost-efficiency
  • Full tax and law compliance
  • One agent taking care of your every task
  • Global access by a single point of entry provider
  • Quick task accomplishment

The entire world is reimagining how they put together their working practices, and new options are beginning to come to the forefront. In this critical time, any multinational company needs to look into using an established and experienced Global PEO provider as a trusted partner.

Acumen International already has a global network as well as hyper-localized expertise to help you as the world changes. Global PEO becomes the mediator between the worker and the client company. It comes with an arranged network as well as the expertise to execute complete conformity to all the local laws and tax regulations in over 190 countries worldwide. This includes services like:

  • A bilingual employment contract
  • Onboarding
  • Registration with all regulatory bodies
  • Salary calculation and payout
  • Compliant tax filing
  • Handling employee requests

We’ve already built the global infrastructure in 190+ countries you need to be a successful company abroad. Work with us and start reaping the benefits.

Reach out to us today for more information.

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Solving the Challenges of Cross-Cultural Team Management

Technology has dramatically transformed the way we communicate, work, and play, and it is having an enormous impact on how we conduct business. No longer restricted by geography and borders, tech innovations have opened doors for companies to recruit the best talent from anywhere on the globe. However, not all is smooth sailing. International team… Read more Solving the Challenges of Cross-Cultural Team Management

Technology has dramatically transformed the way we communicate, work, and play, and it is having an enormous impact on how we conduct business. No longer restricted by geography and borders, tech innovations have opened doors for companies to recruit the best talent from anywhere on the globe. However, not all is smooth sailing.

International team management is complex, especially when your company has no local or regional subsidiaries. Working with the international community means navigating foreign systems that are not always convenient or compatible with your own, and failure to comply can land you in hot water. One comprehensive solution for managing your team is to partner with a reliable global employer of record to fulfill your obligations to employees anywhere in the world.

International Team Management Obstacles

Despite the ease of communicating and working across international borders, there are still many obstacles to building a global team. In addition to language and cultural barriers, you have to comply with local laws governing employment and taxation.

Some of the main obstacles faced by global employers include:

  • Recruiting top performers: The ability to go beyond your company’s backyard to find the world’s best talent is a huge advantage for your business. But the downside is dealing with different cultural norms, languages, and foreign hiring processes that put your HR team to the test. Working with a Global PEO (Professional Employer Organization) or EOR (Employer of Record) provider can take the load off your home team and help you acquire the talent you need with minimal friction.
  • Team management and training: Onboarding new employees is always a challenge, but even more so when they work remotely and are not accustomed to your corporate culture. Starting foreign employees off with positive work experience is key to making the process flow smoothly. Designate a teammate from the home office to be responsible for each new employee, making them feel welcome, answering their questions, and guiding them through the early months of employment.
  • Compliance with tax codes and employment regulations: In the past, companies had to establish themselves as an entity within the host country where they wished to hire employees and to comply with local regulations for employment, taxes, and compensation. In many cases, the expense by far outweighed the advantages. Today, service providers like Acumen International eliminate the need for companies to open their own companies, saving you money and relieving an administrative burden while giving you access to a global pool of candidates.
  • Payroll and compensation: Paying your employees is fairly straightforward until you add internationals and foreign branches to the mix. Then it becomes a hornet’s nest of compliance regulations, disparities in currency, withholding for local taxes, and other complicated issues that become a payroll administrator’s nightmare. An International PEO and payroll service provider like Acumen can make payments authorization to cross-cultural teams from anywhere a breeze, no matter the host country. Partnering with a “single point of entry” service provider will facilitate handling all workforce management tasks while letting you retain full control over the employees in their day-to-day activities.
  • Benefits and other HR issues: Setting up equitable benefits that can be accessed and provided in different countries is a complex process. Acumen can manage employee benefits and perform a host of other HR-related tasks that are difficult to execute across international borders. A global PEO provider serves as the company’s global HR extension and can ensure an additional level of protection for a client against possible local provider fraud cases. The paying client remains protected by his agreement with the provider.

What About Contractors?

The gig economy has made it possible for businesses to expand and shrink their labor force when needed, with no long-term commitments to permanent employees. That can mean big savings in benefits and other perks that full-time top performers expect and demand. At the same time, freelancers are able to pick up extra cash, work flexible hours, and travel, without the restrictions and responsibilities that come with a full-time gig.

When it comes to paying short-term or part-time contractors, things can get a little sticky, especially if they live in another country. Employers need to comply with both local and regional statutes that regulate employment, and often need to communicate in multiple languages. In addition, foreign governments may view contractors as your employees, muddying the waters when it comes to compensation, taxes, and withholding. Cases like this often result in huge fines for employee misclassification.

Those obstacles cause many companies to steer clear of contractors whose geographic location makes hiring and payroll processing too complicated, even when the contractor possesses highly sought-after skills and knowledge. If you want the flexibility of working with contractors without the hassles of foreign compliance, payroll, and employee benefits management solution like Acumen offers the perfect solution. A global PEO provider will help you employ the worker compliantly, safely with the best of your company’s interest in mind.

Build a World-Class Team with Acumen International

No matter where your company headquarters is located, you don’t need to miss out on hiring the world’s best talent. Acumen International is a world leader in managing legal issues, payroll, benefits, taxes, and other HR challenges faced by businesses with a growing global workforce.

As a single point of contact partner, Acumen saves you from having to navigate the multitude of different laws governing local compliance by taking care of payroll, benefits, and other details, anywhere in the world. A single point of contact allows the client company to use standardized quotes and contracts without wasting time. In addition, it is easy to add a head account in different countries of the world, since one service contract provides all the conditions for the hiring and processing of benefits, regardless of the country of employment.

Contact us today, and learn how Acumen International’s solutions can help your business build a world-class team to meet your global expansion ambition.

Blog

Local Support to Foreign Clients During Territorial Restrictions

Right now, international travel is at a crossroads regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic. We are starting to see business restrictions lift in some of the areas that were previously most affected by the disease. However, international travel is probably one of the last areas where restrictions will remain. Even then, the future isn’t certain regarding… Read more Local Support to Foreign Clients During Territorial Restrictions

Right now, international travel is at a crossroads regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic. We are starting to see business restrictions lift in some of the areas that were previously most affected by the disease. However, international travel is probably one of the last areas where restrictions will remain. Even then, the future isn’t certain regarding when or if travel will resume as normal.

While this may be seen as a net benefit for public health, it puts multinational businesses in a bind. Many of them may have had plans to set up expats to head their foreign teams, but this is now impossible. However, this doesn’t mean that work processes should stop. Instead, remote training and experience transfer are going to be key. Here’s how your company can get it running at this time.

How Travel Bans Restrict Multinational Companies

Now, let’s discuss in more detail how a multinational company can be impacted by existing travel bans. We mentioned how sending over ex-pats has become much more difficult or even impossible, but that’s not the only example.

  • Training: In many cases, it would be common for teams looking to go international to send over someone to onboard the local talent and possibly manage them. However, due to travel bans, any training would need to be done remotely for safety reasons.
  • Client base: In some cases, your client base may be international travellers or businesses, especially in the B2B segment. Travel bans could be cutting substantially into your potential profits. The same applies to companies in sectors like hospitality.
  • Networking: Major events like conferences are often great opportunities for businesses to expand their network. However, we may never see these events in the same style again due to health concerns.
  • Remote onboarding: Many companies are trying to turn to remote communication instead of international travel. While this can be a substitute, productivity’s still lost as teams learn to use these new platforms. This takes on a new level of concern internationally, where Internet access and quality may not be uniform across the board.

One thing that a lot of international companies are or should be quick to turn to in these circumstances is a Global PEO service. Global PEO helps simplify the process of hiring international talent, and many see it as a stopgap option until travel bans are lifted. However, you don’t want to take a short-sighted look at things. A PEO service brings several long-term benefits to a company, and here are some major examples.

  • Compliance: The pandemic has led to some of the largest changes in labour law that we’ve ever seen internationally. This isn’t likely to change during the fallout, either. Many countries will have to deal with workforces demanding new benefits and work structures, and it falls on international businesses to comply. With a Global PEO service, you never have to worry about missing a regulation change and being at legal risk.
  • Classification: The debate on whether workers can be classified as independent contractors or employees has been a major one, and in many cases, it’s unclear for even companies trying to comply. A Global PEO service can help make a difference.
  • Outsourcing. For small to medium-sized businesses wanting to go international, HR and payroll tasks can take a lot of added manpower. Global PEO services allow for spreading the workload.
  • Speed. Perhaps the speed involved is the most important thing about an international PEO service compared to setting up a foreign subsidiary in a country of your choice. Travel bans or not, this is the fastest way for you to create a team for taking advantage of opportunities or responding to emergencies.

Leveraging Global Employer of Record Services

So, with that in mind, all multinational companies should be plotting towards a Global PEO service/Global Employer of record. But what’s the best option in this area? Acumen International can help make your regular operations possible, even with travel constraints. For example, using an International PEO or EOR solution greatly simplifies the process of hiring a local worker, letting your business continue operating in a foreign market even if travel bans are left in place for a longer period.

To give you an idea, here’s how a company would approach this issue with or without a Global PEO service.

To hire a foreign employee compliantly, a foreign subsidiary in the country would be needed. This is an expensive and time-consuming process, and many countries have temporarily shut down the offices that handle these transactions due to the pandemic.

The Global PEO/EOR partner takes on the responsibility of compliance with hiring and classification for your new foreign employee. You still maintain control of key decisions like salary and termination.

With a Global Employer of Record, you can access a local workforce in any market, as well as potential clients, lockdowns, or not. Since you already speak the same language as your PEO provider, why not let a company like Acumen be your hands and eyes on-site?

Having The Right Team On-Site For Your Global Expansion

With the support of Acumen International, even in the current climate, it’s possible for you to go about employing foreign workers on-site. While the global business may change, that doesn’t mean you need to halt operations. It’s all a matter of adapting and having the professional support you need, like a Global PEO partner.