The borderless future: “HR leaders expect more than half of the UK of new hires in 2026 will be from outside their home country”
59% of the UK HR leaders expect that most new hires in 2026 will be based outside their organisation’s home country, according to new research by HR technology and payroll innovator Remote. Company executives reported that on average, 57% of new hires in the UK will come from abroad, meaning nearly two out of every three new recruits could be international within the next year.
These findings come from Remote’s 2025 Global Workforce Report, which surveyed 3,650 HR and business leaders across 10 countries.
The survey highlights how demand for borderless workforces is growing as businesses seek to solve the local talent shortages that are a significant threat to their growth.
Yet while as many as3/4 of the UK companies (75%) report that it is harder to find qualified talent locally than a year ago, hiring international staff is not straightforward.
Almost 77% of the UK HR leaders said unclear or conflicting local regulations have made it harder to confidently hire talent they want and 75% of those recruiting internationally have faced compliance issues. In addition, each incident costs an average of $42,000 globally and in the UK – almost £26,000.
“We are witnessing a seismic change in how companies recruit and scale,” said Job van der Voort, CEO and Co-founder of Remote. “Hiring globally is no longer a fringe strategy. The ongoing talent shortage, and the fact that companies struggle to source local staff, means it is now becoming the default.
But companies must be prepared to overcome significant challenges. Managing compliance, payroll, and regulations across borders requires robust infrastructure. Without it, the risks grow as fast as the opportunities.”
Country-level data reveals clear patterns in expansion strategies. 65% of Dutch companies hired internationally in the past six months, followed by 57% in Sweden and 53% in Germany. In contrast, only 29% of French companies reported doing the same, with Australia also showing a more cautious approach at 34%. Meanwhile, companies in the UK and US are closer to the global average, with around 45–47% expanding internationally, while both Singapore and South Korea hover around 49–50%, showing strong regional appetite in APAC.
“This shift could have profound economic consequences,” added Barbara Matthews, Chief People Officer at Remote. “Talent that once had to migrate to wealthier nations like the UK or US can now stay in their home countries and still access global opportunities. That means skills, income, and economic contribution are increasingly retained within smaller and emerging economies, potentially reshaping the balance of global growth.”
The report uncovers how organisations are managing international hiring, compliance, payroll and workforce expansion. Respondents spanned small (<50 employees), medium (50–249), and large (250+) businesses across sectors including finance, IT & telecoms, and professional services.
Methodology
The research was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Remote in August 2025 and is based on interviews with 3,650 business and HR leaders (director level and above) with decision-making responsibility for recruitment of staff across the UK, USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Singapore, and South Korea.
About Remote:
Talent is everywhere — opportunity is not. Remote’s mission is to create opportunity everywhere, empowering employers to find and hire the best talent and enabling individuals to build financial and personal freedom. Businesses around the world use Remote to hire, manage, and pay their globally distributed workforces, simply and compliantly. Remote was founded in 2019 by Job van der Voort and Marcelo Lebre and is backed by leading investors including SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Accel, Sequoia, Index Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, General Catalyst, and B Capital.
