Leveraging Remote Work for International Hiring Success

The rise of remote working has led to many new opportunities, and hiring internationally can bring many benefits to employers who know where to look.    

Unless a company’s employer brand holds international appeal or offers incentives to encourage more distant applicants, office spaces are restrictive and may only attract prospects from a local catchment area; on the other hand, remote working can allow employees to make a living wherever they choose to call home – and the locations are limitless. 

We are still in the early days of knowing how remote working can affect a company. Many are continually assessing how remote working fits within their work environment now that it is no longer a necessity, whilst TA leaders continue to consider what an employer brand should look like in the remote era. 

Companies can now broaden their scope and consider talent from abroad. The question is how to attract talent on a global scale. Many companies seek to provide the answer, pushing the boundaries of what remote working can achieve. 

The World is Your Oyster 

A digital platform that touts the slogan ‘Hire Anywhere, Thrive Everywhere’, Oyster HR was founded during the flaming mess also known as the year 2020, hoping to shine a light on some of the new opportunities that remote working provides. 

Helping companies reach across borders to approach new talent, Oyster HR’s platform helps to remove the hurdles that often discourage companies from hiring internationally. This includes providing information on the legal considerations, making sure that salaries are appropriate and suggesting the right healthcare services to ensure that employees are receiving proper support. 

Speeding up the process of hiring in over 180 countries, Oyster’s clients include PayPal, LinkedIn, Quora and Slack. 

Through taking on the bold challenges of creating and managing a global talent pool, Oyster HR makes it clear that remote working can be more than just an incentive to an employee value proposition for companies eager to win the talent race. Rather, remote working can align with a company’s values to create a more equal and sustainable world. 

As found in Oyster’s Annual Impact Report for 2022, international remote working can align with three of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 

• Decent Work and Economic Growth: Helping those under-served by the current employment system to access decent work.  
• Reducing Inequalities: Helping to alleviate the global north/south disparity due to differing career opportunities. 
• Sustainable Cities and Communities: Reducing brain drain and improving financial resources of local communities. 

The overarching theme is that potential employees no longer need to leave their home country or community in search of work, so long as they have reasonable Internet access and a company willing to welcome them. Remote working allows workers to remain with their family, stimulate the local economy with their increased income and maintain the vibrancy of their culture. 

Levelling Up the World 

Away from Oyster HR, those ideas can also be applied on a national level. In the UK for example, the Government has frequently spoken about ‘levelling up’ as its key aim -  reducing the divide between rural and urban areas. Companies are frequently neglecting smaller towns in favour of the appeal of cities, especially London – and the nation’s brightest graduates follow them.  

Remote working can stem this brain drain, providing prospects with an opportunity to remain in their local community. As Oyster HR points out, employees can also benefit from not being subjected to higher rents, increased crime rates and lower living conditions that typically come with city living, particularly for those starting out their career or struggling financially. 

Companies can invoke some of these ideas in their employer brand messaging, whether they are looking to hire nationally or internationally: 

• “By hiring remotely, we are supporting local economies.” 
• “Diversity is at the heart of all that we do, and remote working has enabled us to reach further than ever before.” 
• “Migration in search of work can cause irreparable damage to minority cultures. With remote working, we can ensure your heritage can live long into the future.” 
• “Home is where the heart is – we value the wellbeing of our employees, and their living area is central to that.”

As Oyster HR explains: “the best jobs should be open to everyone.” In 2022, that aim is becoming more achievable than ever.