Companies in the United States that hire international employees spend about three times more on hiring than they do with domestic employees. 

When international employment is so expensive, you need to create a careful strategy to find the best employees.

Keep reading to learn all about how you can take advantage of an international talent pool. 

1. Figure Out Payroll

One of the first things you’ll need to do is manage payroll correctly. This is the main thing that workers care about, and you’ll have an angry staff of international employees if they don’t get paid. 

You’ll also need to know the regulations and rules related to payroll and benefits. Each country has its own rules, and it should get all of the local benefits. 

Discuss pay before you hire an employee and ensure that everyone knows what’s expected from compensation. 

2. Offer Competitive Packages

You should treat international employees the same as you would treat domestic employees. However, each country has sets of laws and expectations when it comes to hiring. If you want to find the best talent, you should follow these rules. 

You also want to offer competitive packages, including salary and benefits. If an employee is working for a foreign company, they may expect education compensation, transportation, or other allowance as part of their package. 

You may also want to include things like: 

  • Retirement plans (pensions and 401K)
  • Health insurance
  • Life insurance
  • Career and professional development
  • Four-day workweek
  • Remote work
  • Unlimited PTO
  • Childcare help

However, you still need to provide a decent salary package as well to attract the best employees. 

3. Embrace Any Cultural Differences

International talent can help improve your diversity, but you’ll also need to be open and welcoming towards any cultural differences. This might mean that you have to avoid using some phrases that might be offensive in another culture.

You should try and adopt a more formal tone for any professional conversations. You can also train your domestic staff on how to interact with international employees. 

4. Get Visas

When you hire international employees, you’ll need to have visas for them as well. You might need to fill them out for each position that you want to hire for. 

There are dedicated forms for workers who are international and want to eventually become United States citizens. There are also visas for non-residents who want to work temporarily in the United States. 

This is why you need to understand what roles you’re hiring for and classify your workers correctly. You should talk with your human resources and legal team to ensure that each role is classified correctly. 

5. Set Categories

You have to write employment contracts for each employee that you hire, and you want to make sure that you can set their categorisation correctly. 

You should draft the employment contract with the local rules in mind. For example, if you’re hiring a full-time employee, you need to define whether or not they are eligible for overtime pay as well. 

These employee categorisations will ensure that you are compliant with local labour laws. 

6. Have a Recruiting Plan

Once you have all of the legal paperwork ironed out, you can start building out an international recruiting plan. You’ll also need to outline a plan for onboarding the staff when you do hire them. 

Your recruiting plan should include different hiring tactics, like visiting international job fairs, posting job descriptions on international job boards, and using international recruiters. 

When you have a smooth recruiting process, you’re more likely to attract international employees. Finishing up the process with a good onboarding experience can also minimise employee turnover. 

7. Offer Relocation Support

You’ll also need to decide whether you want to hire remote teams or have them relocate somewhere else. If you’re having them relocate somewhere, then you may want to offer some relocation support. 

For example, you might want to work with a third-party company to offer assistance like movers or services to find a new place to live. 

You may even want to incorporate a relocation fund into the hire’s benefits package. 

8. Use an EOR

A global EOR can manage international hiring for you so that you can spend your time running your business. They can handle all of the legal and tax requirements and ensure that you’re compliant while hiring internationally. 

The EOR will manage your international team and can even onboard and hire them. These companies allow you to enter international markets with ease and peace of mind. You’ll know that your business is compliant without ever having to worry about it. 

9. Start the Process Early

International hiring has a lot of red tape surrounding it, and if you want to hire employees, you need to start the process as early as possible. You can’t hire an employee within the week unless you’ve already started the process.

For some companies that aren’t using an EOR, it can take months or years to successfully hire an international employee, especially if you’re using business immigration programs. 

Discover More Insights into International Employment

These are only a few things to know about international employment, but there are many other things you need to do to hire the best talent.

One way to ensure you have a good strategy for international hiring is to work with a business consultant. 

Contact us today to learn about how our services can help you out! With our help, you can hire some of the best international employees to help grow your business.