Recruiting foreign workforce is a trend that’s been practiced for as long as the business world exists. The reason behind this is a boost in productivity that, eventually, leads to a financial gain. However, there are many financial aspects of recruiting a foreign workforce to consider before you can objectively answer the question of whether it’s really worth doing this. Here are five of these aspects that you need to study and examine to the best of your abilities.
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Overcoming a shortage of skilled workers
The first thing you need to understand about hiring a foreign workforce is the fact that this method is most commonly resorted to when there’s a local shortage of skilled workers. Whenever there’s a shortage of something, chances are that its price will get inflated several times over. Therefore, the fewer local experts there are, the more it will cost for your business to hire one. In other words, looking abroad for talent may help you fill in your staff without spending too many resources to do so.
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Proof of local recruitment attempts
Some countries try to protect their local workforce by requiring proof of local recruitment attempts before they allow you to hire a foreign employee. Unless you’re able to offer such proof, you might face a lawsuit. The problem, however, lies in the fact that these attempts are hard to prove. This is why you might want to hire a recruitment agency, just so that they can provide you with the necessary documentation. Outsourcing this task is smart for several other reasons, as well, but, for now, this comes to the forefront.
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It may take some time
Another thing you need to understand is the fact that hiring someone from abroad may take some time. This is due to the fact that you need to look for some paperwork and even contact veteran solicitors from Sydney in order to help your future hire get the visa they need in order to enter the country. Other than this, the person that comes to your company from afar may take some time to get accustomed to this new environment. The language and culture barriers may also pose as a sort of an obstacle. Therefore, the equation that you make when you decide to hire a foreign talent needs to take this downtime into a consideration.
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Extraordinary ability
There are some specific visas and programs that are approved only for those with extraordinary abilities. Scientists, artists and athletes are most commonly the ones receiving them. The reason why this is so important from the financial standpoint is due to the fact that this extraordinary ability tends to earn your business a small fortune. In some scenarios, it will even be impossible to make an accurate estimate of how must this person might bring in. Therefore, even though it’s clear that this is a smart financial move, the exact ROI might be impossible to calculate.
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Temporary or permanent
The last thing you need to keep in mind is the fact that hiring temporary foreign workers for your company tends to be the most common course of action, as well as the usual first step in this process. However, it implies that your worker needs to apply for a work permit and it’s you who needs to lead them through the most of this process. Unwanted domestic job vacancies are the easiest to fill in and the higher the local economy (GDP) is, the easier it will be to attract your target audience.
In conclusion
Of course, there are some downsides to hiring foreign workers, as well. Ideally, you want your staff to accept them for who they are, yet, you have no guarantee that this will actually be the case. Second, you might get accused of showing negligence towards the local talent, which will set your marketing back (also hurting you financially). Finally, you have no guarantee that the talent you’re going above and beyond to bring to your current location is actually as talented as it claims. In other words, this is both a risky move and a complex business decision, yet, it’s one that has to be made.
