Bianca Eriksen· Compensation Analyst, Halcyon Financial Group
Posted in Global & Mobility ·
When we started hiring internationally we had 90 people and one entity. Today we are 340, with 61 employed through employer-of-record providers in 13 countries. Some figures for anyone weighing it up.
Fees averaged USD 650 per person a month, so about USD 475,000 a year. On top of that came currency margins on payroll funding, deposits of one to two months of salary per hire, and benefits that were thinner than what a local employer would offer. In Germany and the Netherlands candidates noticed.
We have now opened entities in Poland, India and Germany, where we had 14, 11 and 9 people. Break-even was around 8 to 10 employees per country once you count local accounting, payroll and a director.
2 helpful · 3 insightful · 1 agree · 5 replies · 148 views · 4 following
Quentin GuptaCSI, CEP
Job Architecture Lead, Independent
Our break-even came out similar, 10 to 12, but cost was not what triggered it. In Germany it was the limit on how long someone can be supplied through that kind of arrangement, which our provider flagged at 18 months. Worth asking each provider which countries have a time limit.
Global Mobility Manager, Ravenna Chemicals
The transfer from provider to own entity is its own project. Did you keep continuous service? We recognised service from the original start date for notice, leave and vesting, and wrote that into the new contracts. Three people still used the change to renegotiate pay.
Compensation Analyst, Qasr Holdings
Yes, continuous service in all three countries, written into the contract. In India we also had to work through the accrued gratuity position with the provider. We transferred 34 people and had no renegotiation, though we timed it a month after the pay review.
Head of Reward, Steinbach Industrie
I would be slower to open entities than this suggests. An entity is easy to open and painful to close. We set up in two countries on the strength of 9 hires each, the product strategy changed, and winding one of them down took 19 months. The fee starts to look cheap.
VP, Total Rewards, Larkspur Manufacturing
The thin benefits point is underrated. We now top up through the provider where they allow it, mainly supplementary medical and pension contributions, at around 6% of salary. Without it our offer acceptance rate in western Europe was under 50%.
