Remote Work: How to Hire International Talent

The remote work revolution proved to be a triumph.

So much so, that when bosses emailed staff with “get back to the office” after Covid restrictions ended, swathes of home workers decided to quit instead. It’s part of what drove the so-called Great Resignation.

Remote working has a ton of benefits, but getting it right takes experience and discipline – not to mention tools. But these days, just about every company capable of going remote has at least some experience of it from lockdown. And some are taking it to the next level, by hiring outside of their country.

The benefits to hiring international talent, and taking them on as remote workers, are massive; but this definitely won’t be true for every organisation. When it comes to tech industries, and fields like the ones we work in (development and coding, through customised Atlassian tools), remote hires make the most sense.

Let’s show you why – and how – you should hire contractors outside of your country, or even a full-time remote workforce.

Related: Is there a skills shortage, or are you just looking in the wrong places?

Why should businesses hire away from home?

Like we said, hiring remote workers outside of your country might not work for everyone. But the advantages are just too good to ignore – and if you have the right processes in place, you’ll have a roadmap to success.

Hiring international remote workers gives you access to an infinitely larger talent pool, diverse knowledge and experiences, a global market presence – and can even save you money.

A bigger talent pool

Your local economy is probably fighting over an ever-decreasing number of skilled professionals right now. There’s a lot of demand for tech skills, and practically nobody has them at the moment. By looking for international remote workers, you can turn a pool of tens of candidates into a pool of THOUSANDS. If you’re struggling to find the right skills in your own region right now, then widen the net – go international.

The knowledge advantage

With that said, it’s always good to hire from your local talent pool, and help build a thriving economy. But if you do this exclusively, you’re in danger of building a team with tunnel vision, and “groupthink” tendencies. Building tools and services for everyone cannot happen if those doing the work only represent a tiny fraction of society.

So, burst your bubble.

If your competitors only hire locally, they’re missing out on diverse thought, experience, and creative problem-solving. They’re blinkered, and focused on solving the problems of a shrinking minority.

If you mix up your teams and hire international, diverse talent – you’ll have a significant knowledge advantage over your competition.

Cheaper

Global pay rates vary – and hiring international employees can boost your profit margin.

Take the United States, where the average dev salary is $110,140. In Argentina, the same job, with the same skill set, pays on average $39,898. That’s a saving of 64% per year on salary. Currency exchange rates can also benefit employers, if they pay in the local currency – and even if you offer significantly over the market rate for international talent, you’ll still be paying less.

Cover more global hours, and gain a global presence

Hiring international remote workers gives you a global presence, and a chance to spread into new territories. This might require some investment in infrastructure – like ensuring compliance with data residency, for example – but with local expertise, global expansion is far quicker to scale when you have an international workforce.

Plus, you can essentially have your teams working around the clock, in different time zones. An international remote worker picks up where your local staff leave off at the end of their day. It’s an amazing way to scale at speed, with a tight, lean workforce.

So far – this probably all sounds great, right?!

Well, it is. But there are, of course, complexities. It’s not always smooth sailing, especially if you’re planning on doing the talent search alone.

What can go wrong?

As with everything in business, things can go wrong. There are no guarantees that your hire will be the right fit, have the necessary skills, or perform as you expect – but we’ll show you how ClearHub gets hiring right the first time, after we cover some common pitfalls.

Compliance

Hiring a remote full-time employee from a different country could require you to register your business there. Companies can fall foul of compliance and regulatory laws if they fail to do so. Data residency can also be an issue – but migrating to the Cloud can solve this.

Communication

You need to be able to communicate mutually, and do so over the spread of time zones. This can be a challenge, especially if trust is an issue. Language proficiencies on both sides must be presented honestly in the first instance.

Commitment

This comes back to trust. Bringing a new hire up to speed always incurs some kind of cost, usually time. That investment can disappear if the new hire decides to quit shortly after joining. Commitment in remote international employees is hard to gauge, but we have a guide to working with remote teams to help you.

How to hire international remote workers – the ClearHub way

When it comes to international recruitment of Atlassian contractors, we get it right for our clients. That’s because we stick to our core values and principles, no matter which international region we’re looking to hire from.

The result? A 100% hit rate on our first candidate selection.

How do we manage that? For starters, ClearHub has the following features:

• The biggest international network of Atlassian contractors
• All candidates are pre-qualified, skills tested and vetted
• Talent is tailored to each client’s needs

As for the rest, it’s no secret. In fact, we’re completely transparent about the process at ClearHub. Learn more about our full process, and how we get it right the first time:

• How ClearHub Finds the Right Atlassian Contractor

Hire the best remote Atlassian talent, around the world

Trust the experts at ClearHub to help you hire remote international workers, with world-class Atlassian knowledge.

Cut your talent search down to days, not months. Get the skills you need for success. Reap the rewards of an international knowledge base.

Speak to us today.

UK contact: Aaron Rowsell

Global Contractor Manager

Email: arowsell@clearhub.tech 

Call: +44 2381 157 811​

US contact: David Runyon

Recruitment Consultant

Email: drunyon@clearhub.tech

Call +1 858 304 1215