Global Employment Outsourcing Services (GEO)

What is GEO and how can it help my business?

For companies that want to stretch their corporate presence beyond their home country, access richer talent pools, and tap into new revenue outlets, global expansion is often the way to go.

However, entering foreign countries can be a tricky process. This is why a growing number of businesses opt to work with GEO companies.

GEO is an acronym for Global Employment Outsourcing. These services are provided by international employment firms that can act as a legal Employer of Record (EOR) for a client company.

GEO services are designed to simplify the international expansion journey and help you navigate various administrative HR tasks when:

• Performing work in a country where your company may not be registered
• Setting up a new legal entity
• Understanding labour laws and tax implications in-country

An Employer of Record is an organisation with the legal responsibility for labour compliance. This is especially important when operating in a country where your organisation does not formally have a local entity.

An Employer of Record can support you with a range of tasks including:

• Payroll and tax administration
• Employee benefits
• Foreign exchange and in-country money movement
• Employment contracts
• Insurance
• Local laws
• Immigration or visa/work permit processing

What are the key benefits of outsourcing global employment?

Outsourcing your employment requirements to a global specialist will result in several operational efficiencies.

1. Quickly enter new markets

By working with an internationally diverse GEO company, you can quickly enter new markets without the need for establishing local entities.

Operating in multiple countries can be overwhelming for growing organisations. Navigating compliance, communicating with foreign employees, tax implications, and frequent immigration changes reduce your ability to focus on long-term talent strategy.

Partnering with a supplier with a detailed understanding of compliance requirements can help you concentrate on your company's growth and achieving your core business goals such as; market research, talent acquisition, customer service, and maintaining profitability. 

2. Cost-effective and streamlined HR

Employment and compliance challenges are multiplied when your costs escalate from managing multiple suppliers or recruiting HR specialists.

There is a high cost associated with opening an entity in-country. It often makes more sense to leverage another company’s footprint to ease financial burdens.

Outsourcing enables you to work with a single entity while removing the need to maintain an expensive in-house team.

3. Improved productivity and communication

An outsourced global employer organisation can provide one contact for all inquiries.

This increases efficiency and ensures issues are dealt with quickly while reducing the need to engage multiple stakeholders, freeing up time to focus on your core business functions. 

4. Remain compliant, reduce risk

It is important that a workforce is not only mobilized quickly but legally. The need to stay on top of legislation is imperative to the success of any global company.

A global employment outsourcing specialist with in-depth local knowledge ensures your workforce is compliantly managed while reducing the risk of noncompliance and any operational errors. 

Wherever in the world, you choose to operate your business entity.

5. Accurate and reliable payroll management

Maintaining in-house finance and international payroll teams can be expensive and difficult for clients without a permanent base in-country.

Paired with changing compliance requirements and limited legal knowledge, managing payroll is often one of the biggest challenges of global expansion. 

A GEO company can manage local/national income tax and social security payments on behalf of local and international employees. They can also make sure that this money is deducted from their salaries and paid directly to the tax authorities.

Hire and manage remote teams with a GEO partner

Many things have changed since the Covid-19 pandemic and one of these is how the world has grown to embrace remote working.

For businesses that find themselves having to manage teams of geographically dispersed, international talent, working with a global employment outsourcing company can help to reduce the number of administrative tasks you'll encounter. Regardless of your business size. 

Working with a GEO company also helps companies expand their international talent acquisition efforts. An employer of record can help businesses hire from anywhere in the world  - without having to establish a foreign entity. Letting you hire the best people for the job without having to worry about geographic restrictions.

By letting you sidestep time-consuming international business incorporation processes, an employer of record can help get your international hires on-boarded and on the job within days. 

An EOR can also help to support your remote employees and create a seamless employee experience. Some of the remote working challenges an EOR can solve include: 

• Advising on notice periods and contracts
• Assisting with legal documentation and tax filings
• Provide in-country worker support 

How can Airswift support your global expansion?

At Airswift, people are at the heart of everything we do and employee care is our speciality.  With over 60 offices globally and operations in 130 countries, we know people and their needs. 

We specialise in handling the toughest immigration challenges, logistical hardships, and complex employment laws. It’s what we do. Let us share our experiences and support your growing needs where you need it most.