The future is tech, but where will this future be created?
While the long-term effects of COVID have revolutionised work cultures, work hybridity and the meaning of work welfare, it cannot be ignored that many job seekers still want to live and work in vibrant cities and exciting metropolitan areas. As per Business Insider, in August of 2021 “urban population growth was steady across all metropolitan areas…migration from cities “has largely ceased” and urban occupancy is rebounding.” The workforce movement trends that dominated 2020 - people leaving urban areas - seem to have come to a halt and are starting to reverse.
This has significant implications for employers looking at hiring tech talent. Cities remain attractive locations for the highly skilled, in-demand and we have confused their desire for remote work to mean de-urbanisation, when it really meant a desire to work flexibly, within urban locations.
Pre-pandemic, relocating talent was a slow, linear process, and the precedent was that new employee relocation occurs prior to a formal start date, and only once settled does the employee start work. In our post-pandemic new normal, both the culture within companies who engage in relocating talent, and the expectations of those workers who are relocated, are now dominated by one defining thing: remote work first.
Remote work offers your new employee the chance to start working with you immediately. In doing so they gain familiarity with the team and tools, make earlier contributions to team objectives, improving morale and building trust with new colleagues. The market now offers many excellent services for onboarding, collaboration, international payroll and more, which makes personnel integration - and eventual relocating of talent - an easy, and stress-free endeavour.
From our work with hundreds of employers “hire to relocate” we have identified a host of tools which might be useful to you if you are undergoing a similar process.
Digital collaboration has been a mainstay of COVID-centric business solutions. The ease of SaaS integration, and a global requirement for touchless services, have underpinned an explosion of collaboration solutions in the recruitment industry.
The big fish of the collaboration world - Slack, Zoom and Microsoft Teams - have set a precedent for streamlined information access, video collaboration and workflow. But onboarding is so much more than ease of comms. It has to take stock of training, cultural integration, employee engagement, and staff retention.
Onboarding and collaboration companies to watch out for:
→ Talmundo
A simple cloud-based onboarding platform for companies that lets you personalize the new hire experience with engaging workflows and tools designed to pace the employee through the process.
→ Typelane
Designed for employee onboarding, Typelane wants to increase employee engagement through task management and automated messaging for productivity.
→ Freshteam
Created by Freshworks, this is a comprehensive applicant recruitment and HR management platform with an applicant tracking system (ATS), employee onboarding, and time off management software component.
→ Avature
Combining ATS and CRM capabilities, Avature personalizes the new hire experience perfect for enterprise level companies with applicant tracking, recruitment tools, social onboarding, and performance management.
→ Sapling
Sapling is a cloud-based solution designed to assist in employee onboarding and managing HR operations.
→ HROnboard
HROnboard is a mobile-first, onboarding engagement app that enables teams to create tailored new hire experiences.
To illuminate the need for international payroll services, consider the boom in cross border payments. They “are expected to soar… in 2022 to a total of $156 trillion”. Having a payroll system optimised for an international market will open doors to international talent while adhering to local tax and payment laws, meeting the expectation of a more connected, digitally reliant user base.
This also means you can start paying remote employees before they relocate safely and securely, without the hassle of organising in-house payroll in the interim.
International payroll services to watch out for:
→ GoGlobal
This platform is ideal for businesses looking for exceptional white glove services, and their services include international recruitment, EOR as well as payroll across geographies, amongst other related services.
→ Deel
This global platform offers a basic payroll solution for international companies that focuses on legal compliance and payments.
→ Papaya Global
Perfect for enterprise-level global companies, Papaya automates payroll across 160 countries, manages employees, and offers employee onboarding tools.
→ Rippling
Rippling is one of the most highly rated payroll platforms, it combines payroll solutions with HR functionality including automating offer letters, health insurance, tax paperwork, and easy onboarding.
→ Omnipresent
Created solely for the recruitment of remote employees, Omnipresent offer localized employment contracts, payroll automation, onboarding/offboarding tools, and employee database information.
→ Immedis
Immedis is a streamlined platform that unifies payroll operations while offering real-time, embedded analytics and advanced reporting capabilities.
→ Gusto
An all-in-one HR platform, Gusto integrates its core payroll software with added capabilities for employee onboarding, PTO management, benefits management, and many HR needs.
Major tech hubs in countries like Canada, the UK, the USA, Singapore and South Korea have famously labyrinthine visa processes, but their tech employers need talent immediately. Specialist digital platforms in almost every country are rapidly speeding up the visa application process through their platforms, helping establish new staff in-country quickly.
Visa services platforms to watch out for:
→ Jobbatical
Used primarily by tech companies and start-ups, Jobbatical helps businesses relocate international employees quickly and without issue.
→ VISARIGHT
This immigration services platform focuses on relocating workers to Germany and the European Union.
→ Localyze
Localyze helps you manage your international team, especially when you need to relocate employees or insure a temporary employee transfer across borders.
→ iVisa
iVisa streamlines the lengthy bureaucratic visa application process into inexpensive and easy-to-understand steps.
→ Envoy Global
A US-based company, Envoy specializes in legal representation and technology to allow businesses to hire and relocate international talent quickly and efficiently.
Relocating employees has to take stock of more than just workplace processes like payroll and onboarding: companies are also responsible for homing new staff in secure housing where they can interact with new communities and feel at home.
Luckily, innovation in this niche abounds.
Housing search service platforms to watch out for:
→ PerchPeek
Calling itself “the tinder for renters,” PerchPeek is an AI-powered service that helps people throughout the relocation process - from finding a new home to settling in. The service is active in hundreds of cities worldwide.
→ HousingAnwhere
HousingAnywhere is a rental accommodation platform for mid-length stays in European countries.
→ SITU
SITU helps companies and organizations find international housing and accommodations for corporate travelers and provide employee relocation services. They offer easy access to a wide range of serviced apartments in 500+ locations.
→ Wunderflats
Providing fully furnished apartments and accommodations in Germany, Wunderflats caters to business relocations and family homes alike.
→ Rentberry
US-based Rentberry connects potential renters with property owners and eliminates the guesswork in applications, leasing contracts, and background histories. It offers long-term properties in over 50 countries across the world.
→ Canopy
Another platform for renters and landlords alike, Canopy operates in the UK to streamline the renting process.
There are companies that do all of the above, who provide the platform to better organise relocation, reduce costs, connect you with other relocation companies, and keep all stakeholders happy.
Full service platforms to watch out for:
→ UrbanBound
UrbanBound is relocation management software that guides businesses through the entire remote worker process. It gives businesses the tools to recruit talent, control relocation costs, and remain competitive in the process.
→ Noah Mobility
Serving a global workforce, this service covers the full gamut of relocation services from incorporating global talent into existing corporations to providing relocation tools.
→ Start Relocation
This company specializes in supporting international employees in Berlin and across Germany to acquire visas, fill permit applications and other paperwork, and find housing.
→ Mobility Empowered
Creating an online marketplace, Mobility Empowered connects companies, their talent, and global relocation services through their platform.
→ Globalization Partners
With offices in the US, Mexico, Germany, India, Brazil, and Singapore, Globalization Partners provides the tools companies need to hire international teams without setting up subsidiaries or offices in each location.
We believe remote work is tech’s secret weapon because it can be a fundamental strategic bonus to your relocation and onboarding of tech talent in the long term.
It can help expand your team’s access to diverse talent from across the globe, immediately, while opening pathways for underrepresented talent.
Not only does this benefit your recruitment drives, it generates a more inclusive working environment of creativity and acceptance. Hiring more diverse teams, as studies prove, fundamentally improves your bottom line, retention rates and staff productivity.
But above all else it means your talent can start working today, knowing a whole package of supported relocation services is available at the touch of a button.
Here at Relocate.me, we’ve spent the last 2 years helping companies adjust their relocation strategies and practices in the wake of COVID-19. After much analysis and feedback from clients, we’ve perfected what we feel is a set of remote working rules for employers seeking to relocate tech talent.
Relocate.me is a 100,000-user strong niche job board for tech roles with relocation.
Note: This post was written in collaboration with Recruiting Brainfood.
Andrew is a serial entrepreneur with more than a decade of recruiting experience in the tech field. To date, he has founded four startups, including Relocate.me and GlossaryTech. In the off time, Andrew is a long-distance swimmer and coffee taster.
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