UK companies should be using remote working as a hiring tool, says a report, to improve their businesses. 

The report found that while firms are embracing remote work, they need ‘a mindset shift’ to find global employees who can help drive their businesses. This, it says, is possible if the hiring pool was opened to hire from around the world.

The report says that the challenges of the pandemic and ‘The Great Resignation’ have created enormous new opportunities. The means companies no longer need to hire people who live within commuting distance to the office. It also means job seekers are now free to search for jobs anywhere they want.

CEO of Deel, Alex Bouaziz said: Businesses are going to have to rethink their entire hiring strategy beyond old geography or compliance-based boundaries, as they compete for the best talent.”

UK leads the ranking in global hires

The UK is second only to the US globally when it comes to the number of overseas worker hires over the last six months. 

Canada, Germany, and France make up the top five. 

However, the research finds a potential missed opportunity for the wider business community, as they rethink their hiring strategies. 

Three in four UK adults under 35 say they are open to the idea of working for a company based overseas, if they can do so remotely i.e. from home. 

Business leaders feel hiring remote workers not a viable strategy for the future 

According to the report, UK business leaders are not on board when it comes to hiring remote workers globally- with nearly 80 percent saying it will not be central to their hiring strategy.

Among UK employers who are hiring remote talent, Argentina is the top destination for remote employees – the US, UK, Spain, and Philippines complete the top five. 

The UK is also the fifth most popular destination globally for businesses seeking remote talent, with the Philippines, US, Argentina, and India above it in the list.

Several remote workers prefer to get paid with Cypto

As businesses begin to look abroad for talent, data from Deel’s platform reveals that they are also embracing new forms of paying their people. 

In response to demand from workers, 10 percent of payments by UK employers through Deel in January, were withdrawn via the crypto exchange platform Coinbase.

Bouaziz added: “With a surge in salaries being withdrawn in cryptocurrencies, benefits such as instant crypto payments are becoming ways to attract global talent.

Feyaza Khan has been a journalist for more than 20 years in print and broadcast. Her special interests include neurodiversity in the workplace, tech, diversity, trauma and wellbeing.