A guide to hiring international employees
Uncover advice, insights and top tips for hiring top talent from across the world.
Around 29% of organisations in the UK are experiencing skills shortages, a challenge likely to be exacerbated by demographic aging. As a result, many employers are looking to expand their talent pools.
Hiring international employees can help do just that, with the UK ranking 4th in most attractive countries for relocation and London 1st in the city rankings. That’s according to the Global Talent Survey (GTS), a piece of research from Totaljobs and our partners in The Network, a global alliance of more than 50 leading recruitment websites, alongside Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world’s leading management consultancies.
Tapping into the knowledge and experience of 150,000 workers from across 180,000 countries, the GTS offers valuable insights for any organisation looking to hire employees from abroad.
In this article, we’re going to use the findings of the GTS to explore how your organisation can attract skilled workers from abroad and share top tips for global hiring.
The benefits of hiring internationally
Before delving into how employers can appeal to workers from around the globe open to relocating or working for an employer abroad, it’s first worth taking the time to understand the benefits your organisation can leverage by hiring employees from foreign countries. Let’s look at some of the most significant.
Access to a wider pool of talent
Traditionally organisations have either had to rely on a local pool of talent for filling roles or convincing talented employees from across the UK to relocate. This can lead to a lack of diversity of experience and skill sets.
However, the GTS demonstrates the considerable pools of talent UK employers can tap into by looking further afield:
- 63% of the global workforce is open to relocating for work
- Of these, 23% are willing and actively willing to relocate
As a result, by devising a strategy that allows them to appeal to and hire foreign workers, organisations can leverage a much wider talent pool.
Filing workforce gaps
73% of organisations are currently experiencing skills shortages in the UK, according to a report published by the Open University and the British Chambers of Commerce. The report further shows that 54% of organisations don’t have any specific plans to fix the issue, with no initiatives, skills programmes, or workplace adjustments being put in place to plug their skills gaps.
However, by tapping into a global talent pool, employers can gain access to plenty of candidates who have the skills to fill workforce gaps. According to the GTS, workers who are looking for the roles in some of the industries most impacted by skills gaps are open to relocating. These include:
- Engineering and technical (29%)
- Green and sustainability (28%)
- Education and training (26%)
Increased diversity
Multiple studies have shown that a diverse workforce is happier, more productive, and more creative. For example, a McKinsey report found that companies with more ethnic diversity in management were 35% more likely to have higher than average financial results, while those with more gender diversity were 15% more likely.
A diverse workforce that has effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives means employees from different backgrounds feel like they belong and have a real voice in the organisation.
Hiring foreign employees from around the world is a sure-fire way to increase diversity, bringing in new skills, experiences, and perspectives to an organisation. With these different perspectives, there will be a greater diversity of thought, which is crucial to creating a more innovative and creative workplace.
Attracting global talent
There are several ways an organisation can look to attract and appeal to candidates from a global pool of talent. Here are some of the core strategies you can implement to bolster your approach to hiring from overseas.
Concrete job offers
There is a clear correlation between the quality of a job opportunity and getting foreign nationals to relocate for work, with the GTS showing that a great opportunity is a top factor for considering relocating for 65% of respondents.
Further, 54% of respondents said a concrete job offer gave them personal motivation to leave their home country.
Relocation support
Another thing that international talent might expect when considering whether to relocate and work in the UK is relocation support. This is where employers provide help in the way of moving expenses, family support, or even temporary accommodation to help international hires land on their feet in a new location and set them up for long term success.
The GTS found smooth relocation and onboarding would help 46% of workers to choose a certain company from another country. It also showed that a majority believe employers should help them with both housing assistance and relocation support.
Benchmark salaries
As you might expect, financial and economic reasons are high on the list of priorities for any worker considering moving country for a work opportunity. In fact, it is the number one personal motivation for 64% of workers who are leaving their home, with 52% saying they would choose a certain company from another country due to a top-tier salary package being on offer.
This shows how important a consideration salary and compensation packages are, and it’s something organisations will need to consider carefully if they are to attract top international talent. UK employers should consider salary benchmarking to ensure they’re offering competitive packages that appeal to international candidates.
Showcase people and culture
We’ve already talked about the importance of diversity within a workforce – but actually showcasing a clear commitment to equality and inclusion can be a vital step in attracting international talent.
The GTS found an inclusive company culture with equal employment opportunities for local and migrant workers, and a culture of acceptance and belonging, were among the top reasons for people choosing a company in another country. Out of these, 20% cite a welcoming culture and inclusiveness as a vital factor when considering where to relocate.
Provide recommendations
Recommendations are a powerful tool in recruitment, and they can be leveraged to attract global talent. The Global Talent Survey found 51% of workers said a strong recommendation from a current international employee would be a big factor in picking a certain country to move to.
Given this, UK organisations who already have international employees could look to these workers to provide word-of-mouth recommendations to overseas prospects to boost their chances in the hunt for global talent.
Top tips for hiring abroad
Finding and attracting top talent is just part of the process. Actually hiring and successfully onboarding foreign employees requires additional thought and strategies.
Below we’ve outlined three top tips for hiring talent from abroad.
1. Set up communication with future managers
If an employee is moving country for a new job, feeling connected with their future manager can go a long way to making them feel comfortable and secure about the future. The GTS showed that having personal contact with a future manager was in fact one of the top reasons why workers were happy to accept a role abroad.
This means it could be worth ensuring that managers are involved in the recruitment process. For example, they could be put in touch at the early stages to answer any initial questions or doubts the prospect has, helping a potential hire to have a familiar face involved along the way in the recruitment process.
2. Utilise specialist HR support
There are an increasing number of HR experts who specialise in finding and hiring international talent. They have experience with helping candidates to navigate their moves abroad and can be a big factor in giving international candidates the confidence and trust needed for them to make the big decision to move.
The GTS found that contact from an HR relocation specialist was one of the top factors that could lead to candidates accepting an offer from a company based abroad. UK organisations looking to hire international talent may therefore want to consider bringing onboard a relocation specialist to help them to hire foreign employees.
3. Give candidates time and space to make a decision
Moving abroad for work is a major life decision for anyone. It’s something that is always going to cause a degree of stress and worry, so it’s important that candidates are given the time and space they need to consider their decision carefully.
By giving candidates sufficient time and space to think, employers can ensure they aren’t rushed into it a decision, reducing the chance of it turning into an expensive bad hire. Data from the GTS backs this up, highlighting how being given this time and space was an important factor for many when it came to accepting offers from overseas.
Factors to consider when hiring overseas
Hiring internationally can be a complex and time-consuming process for organisations. As a result, there are numerous important factors UK employers need to consider when looking to bring in overseas talent.
Targeting the right workers
One way in which the GTS can be a powerful source of information for UK businesses looking to hire foreign talent is by looking at the worker demographic they should be targeting on job boards. For example, the data shows that the regions where workers are most actively mobile are:
- Latin America and the Caribbean (20%)
- Sub-Saharan Africa (52%)
- South Asia (58%)
- Middle East and North Africa (64%)
It also found that 20 to 30-year-olds are those most likely to consider moving abroad (32%), while the industries where people are most willing to move are:
- Agriculture, forestry and mining (36%)
- Travel and tourism (31%)
- Hospitality, gastronomy and catering (30%)
- Energy and utilities (29%)
- Skilled trades (29%)
Visa sponsorship and support
Moving abroad for work can involve significant administrative work for job seekers. As a result, providing support with this can be a big factor in not just attracting overseas talent, but also helping them hit the ground running in a new role.
According to the Global Talent Survey, for 85% of international job seekers, help with work visas when moving to the UK would make relocation more attractive. Given these findings, a visa sponsor licence is crucial for UK employers looking to leverage an international pool of talent.
Onboarding processes
A carefully structured onboarding process is vital when hiring from overseas. This isn’t just for the employee’s benefits, but it helps to ensure an organisation has its new hires up and running as fast as possible after what can be a convoluted and extended hiring process.
The GTS found a structured onboarding was something 51% saw as making a relocation more attractive, so implementing a smooth onboarding process is vital to aligning with candidate expectations.
Rising virtual mobility
While many organisations will need and expect any international workers they hire to relocate, thanks to technological and cultural changes within the world of work, virtual mobility is also on the rise. As a result of this trend, more organisations can tap into the global workforce by hiring foreign employees remotely, thereby removing the need for relocation packages.
If remote work across different time zones works for your organisation after taking into consideration local employment laws, there is no shortage of skilled international workers open to working remotely. The GTS shows 66% of workers are willing to work for a foreign employer with no physical presence in their country, representing a 9% increase from 2020.