How Digital Nomads Catalyze Company Growth

In today’s dynamic business landscape, the rise of digital nomads is transforming the way companies operate and grow.

Instead of opening new foreign offices, participating in international acquisitions, or franchising, businesses realize that a far more cost-effective, timely, and low-risk way to expand their companies into new markets is to engage digital nomads who can conduct business operations remotely.

According to a 2022 Gallup survey, 56% of full-time US employees have jobs that they do remotely. That amounts to 70 million workers who are or have the potential to perform their jobs from another location.

This article explores the great potential of digital nomads, providing actionable insights into how organizations can engage this portion of the global workforce to achieve rapid expansion.

What are the benefits of digital nomads?

Digital nomads offer many advantages that directly contribute to company growth. Their ability to work from anywhere leads to increased flexibility and agility, reduced overhead costs, and improved customer service through increased availability across time zones.

Here are a few of the ways digital nomads can aid businesses grow:

• Better customer service: You’ll be able to cover more languages and time zones and cater to a broader customer base more efficiently
• Complementary skills: If local talent doesn’t have the skill sets you need, you can find complementary skills in the global talent pool
• Reduced hiring costs: You can cut your overall hiring and employment costs by sourcing talent from countries with a lower cost of living
• First-hand insight into new markets: Working with talent worldwide lets you learn about foreign markets and local communities from first-hand experiences
• Improved workplace culture: Diversity will encourage your team to accept and celebrate differences and build a sense of belonging within the organization
• Access to fresh business perspectives: You have an opportunity to learn about different ways of doing business and enhance your strategy with new tactics
• Improved talent attraction and retention: Supporting the digital nomad lifestyle enhances talent attraction and retention by offering greater freedom and flexibility, improving quality of life, which in turn fosters stronger team engagement and long-term loyalty

Moreover, digital nomads contribute significantly to the local economies of the areas they inhabit. By supporting local businesses and injecting vital funds into the community, they not only boost economic activity but also foster an environment conducive to entrepreneurship.

How to build a digital nomad workforce

Building a digital nomad workforce demands careful planning and tailored strategies to attract and retain top talent. By focusing on effective communication, clear expectations, and a supportive remote work environment, you can build a successful nomadic team that will contribute to your organization’s growth.

Attract digital nomads with remote working and location flexibility

Companies that hope to build a digital nomad workforce must first create a culture that embraces remote working and location flexibility.

Adopting a “work-from-anywhere” (WFA) policy has proven to attract and retain digital nomads and contributed to the company’s expansion goals. A WFA policy allows talent to work from any location, providing that they have a reliable internet connection and meet the company’s performance expectations.

Airbnb, the home-sharing company, has over 6,800 WFA employees. Embracing the WFA model has provided savings for the company, whose office footprint is now less than half of what it was before. It has also enabled it to expand and diversify its talent pool hugely and contributed to employees’ work-life balance and overall employee experience and job satisfaction.

In an interview with NPR, Airbnb’s Chief Financial Officer, Dave Stephenson, and leader of Airbnb’s affinity group for black employees, Benny Etienne, discussed the benefits of the WFA initiative.

They confirmed that the attrition rate is close to an all-time low and falling. The initiative is also helping with other expansion goals. For example, the company has recruited more underrepresented minorities and women over the past year, including into tech roles.

See also: Improving Talent Acquisition and Employee Retention with Location Flexibility.

Locate digital nomads with a talent location strategy

Building a digital nomad workforce requires a well-defined talent location strategy that will enable you to access the right talent in the right places at the right time.

Conduct a comprehensive analysis of your organization’s talent requirements, business objectives, and growth plans. Then, identify potential target locations based on talent availability, market demand, and cost considerations.

Specific regions, countries, and cities have become talent hubs for particular skills and industries. Latin America, for example, has a large and growing pool of highly educated and skilled workers, particularly in areas such as engineering, computer science, and finance.

Many Latin Americans are also fluent in Spanish and English, which can be advantageous for companies looking to expand into the region or work with Latin American customers. The region also shares the same time zone as the US and Canada, making it easier for companies to establish operations and overlap with workers and clients in these countries.

Discover the most popular regions to hire from and skills to hire for in 2022 from Deel’s State of Global Hiring report.

See also: A Guide to Finding Global Talent.

Hire nomad employees with an Employer of Record (EOR)

Once you’ve attracted and located talented digital nomads, you must hire them compliantly. When hiring international employees in countries where the company lacks a local entity, the most efficient and affordable option is to use an employer of record (EOR).

The EOR employs the worker on behalf of your company, ensures compliance with local laws and labor regulations, and runs global payroll and other HR and administrative tasks.

Today, Deel is the largest EOR provider globally, with over 100+ entities. Deel solely owns and manages each of these entities—it does not outsource to third-party providers.

Discover how EasyBroker, a US-based real estate portal, expanded globally, became 100% remote, and saved over 50% in fees and time with Deel.

See also: Everything EOR: A Guide to Employer of Record

Hire nomadic contractors with Deel Contractor of Record

Contractors make up a large portion of the digital nomad workforce. According to a study by Upwork, 35% of the global workforce is now made up of freelancers and independent contractors. This number is expected to grow to 50% by 2028.

Contractors are typically more flexible and mobile than employees. They often work on a project-by-project basis and can choose when and where they work, leading many to embrace a more nomadic lifestyle and take their work to different locations.

Contractors give businesses more flexibility to adjust their workforce as needed. They are often less expensive than traditional employees since they do not require the same mandatory benefits and overhead costs, and you don’t need a local entity to hire one in a country where you lack a local entity.

However, when hiring independent contractors, creating thorough contractor agreements, ensuring all documents are signed, and maintaining accurate invoicing records are essential. These administrative tasks are often time-consuming and laborious but also necessary for the compliant running of a business.

Hiring international contractors is further complicated by different languages, payment methods and currencies, and compliance clauses. The definition of an independent contractor also varies by country. A person might be considered a contractor in one country but an employee in another, exposing the client to misclassification risks and multiple financial and legal penalties.

With Deel Contractor of Record, businesses can hire and onboard international contractors compliantly worldwide in minutes. We assess the correct classification and streamline the creation of tailored contracts that comply with local labor laws in 150+ countries. These airtight contracts and advanced compliance features help businesses confidently hire a contractor without risking misclassification and liability.

Deel’s all-in-one HR platform enables you to automate invoicing, manage global payments, track and manage expenses, and provide the ultimate contractor experience with advanced payments, personal spending cards, perks, and tax advice.

Discover how software company Project44 has saved around $500,000 a year since switching to Deel and gained added peace of mind with contractor coverage.

How to manage and support digital nomads

Effective digital nomad management is imperative to the success of business expansion.

Management involves maintaining work contracts and documentation that comply with other countries’ laws and regulations, upholding security when workers use their own devices and networks, and maintaining effective communication, collaboration, and engagement with workers in different locations and time zones.

Using an HR platform like Deel, built for global teams, is the most effective way of overseeing a nomadic workforce, providing the functionality and tools to monitor compliance, engage remote teams, and keep administrative complexities at bay. We explore these features in more detail below:

Streamlined onboarding

A global HR platform can automate the process of onboarding and enrolling remote workers into an organization’s digital workspace. With Deel, HR teams can set up rules and triggers to automatically enroll new hires in the necessary systems, generate login credentials, and disseminate training materials.

These platforms can also collect and centralize the data needed for onboarding, such as employee contact details, role responsibilities, and tax information. With Deel as your single source of truth, it’s easy for HR teams to access the necessary information and keep it secure and up-to-date.

Finally, a global HR platform can automate enrollment in core HR functions such as mandatory employee benefits, payroll, attendance, and time off tracking. The advantage of Deel’s global HR platform vs. a local platform is that it allows for country-specific workflows with customs fields and requirements to support digital nomads in every country.

Discover how Palm NFT Studio saves 80+ hours per month on HR admin from onboarding to PTO, payroll to compliance, and contract amendments with Deel.

“I would say that just onboarding alone, I’d have to hire another person to handle that if it wasn’t for Deel, so it saves the company time and money.” - Anita Smith, Head of People, Palm NFT Studio

See also: A Guide to Onboarding an Asynchronous Worker [Tips and Checklist]

Device management and flexible workspaces

Equipping deskless workers with the necessary mobile technology such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets involves:

• Consideration of each individual’s technological needs
• Awareness of country-specific regulatory requirements
• Data and security measures
• Logistical oversight

The best global HR platforms provide equipment management, enabling businesses to provision and manage equipment for nomadic workers dispersed globally.

Deel IT enables organizations to supply and manage mobile devices for a globally distributed team. Businesses can easily automate equipment provisioning when onboarding a new worker on the Deel platform.

The self-serve portal allows team members to select the equipment they need from a pre-approved, always-in-stock catalog and then track the status of their orders until they arrive at their chosen location. Businesses can also get real-time updates on the status of orders and delivery tracking and visibility into all the costs involved in supplying equipment internationally.

The software also considers the geographical nuances of different regions, such as customs, import regulations, and technological standards. It ensures that equipment options comply with local requirements, that team members experience timely and smooth receipt of equipment, and that their sensitive data is protected.

Deel has also partnered with coworking space providers globally so that businesses can offer digital nomads the convenience of a flexible coworking space. This way, talent will always have access to a conducive working environment, even while moving from place to place.

See also: Equipment Provisioning for Remote and Global Teams Policy Template.

Global compliance and security

Global HR platforms can aid in monitoring compliance for a nomadic workforce that frequently travels and relocates across jurisdictions. Deel’s platform upholds the highest data privacy and security standards and ensures compliance with international labor laws that govern mandatory benefits (think healthcare insurance, paid time off, and pension contributions), minimum wages, terminations, payroll, and taxes.

Below, we’ll discuss how the best global HR platforms uphold global compliance and security for a digital nomad workforce.

Self-serve data entry: Instead of HR chasing around sensitive worker data and documentation such as banking information, passports, and tax forms on multiple spreadsheets and systems, new and existing workers receive emails and push notifications to input, update, and upload personal information directly on Deel’s self-serve platform, protected with data encryption, GDPR, and SOC2 compliance.

Contract workflows with country-specific caveats: Rather than researching different labor laws, using unreliable templates, or involving external legal teams, intuitive platforms like Deel, guide you through each aspect of the contract, providing helpful insights and suggestions per country requirements. These contracts are vetted by local legal experts and updated quarterly to remain compliant.

Should a digital nomad relocate permanently to a new location, you can quickly update contracts and have workers sign new non-disclosure, intellectual property, and data protection agreements.

Automated global payroll, compensation, and tax filing: Instead of manually fulfilling payroll obligations for each location or outsourcing payroll management to a local payroll provider, global HR platforms like Deel can automatically run payroll, contractor payments, and tax filing as soon as a worker is enrolled.

The Deel platform considers local currencies, exchange rates, country-specific benefits deductions and contributions, and time off. It also allows you to add bonuses and last-minute expenses and automate payslips and invoice distribution. Contractors can also benefit from multiple withdrawal and currency options.

See also: HR Compliance: How Can Startups Use HR Automation Tools for Employees and Contractors?

Built-in visa and immigration support

The most comprehensive global HR platforms have built-in visa and immigration support to assist workers with acquiring the necessary legal documentation to move between countries and jurisdictions. Should your organization wish to hire or relocate a worker to a country where they do not have work authorization, you can check eligibility and request support directly on the Deel platform.

Because Deel also has Employer of Record capabilities, you can have Deel hire a new employee and sponsor their visa application on your behalf to accelerate the visa procurement process. This is an excellent solution if you prefer a hands-off approach to immigration or do not have an entity in the destination location, which is often required for sponsorship.

Deel supports a range of work visas worldwide, including startup and entrepreneur visas. We also offer digital nomad visas in countries like Portugal, Spain, Greece, Japan, Colombia, and the UAE, which make excellent incentive programs for those looking for temporary opportunities to work abroad.

See also: The Power of Workations and Digital Nomad Visas for Team Engagement

Discover how B2B SaaS company Taktile sponsored 3 visas thanks to Deel.

See also: A Guide to EOR-Sponsored Visas for Enterprise Businesses

Free communication, collaboration, and engagement tools and plugins

Global HR platforms like Deel connect effortlessly with additional HR tools designed to help digital nomads build a stronger culture, support internal communication, and improve remote employee engagement strategies.

With Deel Engage, organizations can manage time-off requests, 1-on-1s, candidate referrals, pulse surveys, employee recognition, and more, all from the convenience of Slack. HR teams can monitor adoption rates, streamline unnecessary HR admin, and track employee communication channels, burnout, and holiday allowances.

Discover how ThirstySprout streamlines PTO, increases referrals, and automates onboarding without ever leaving Slack.

“As most of our work gets done in Slack, the Slack integration and its ease of use are great. Teams don't have to log out and go to the HRIS to type in their stuff now. They just Slack it, and all of a sudden, everything is documented and synced.” - David Stepania, Founder, ThirstySprout

See also: 11 Virtual Employee Engagement Ideas (That Aren’t Group Games).

Grow your digital nomad workforce with Deel

The future of business expansion lies in strategically employing nomadic workers. Embracing these individuals as a pivotal part of your business strategy can enable you to penetrate new markets, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and achieve global success.

Deel’s global HR platform, with built-in global payroll, EOR, contractor hiring, visa, and immigration support, offers a comprehensive solution to managing the complexities of a nomadic workforce. It simplifies administrative tasks, ensures compliance, and empowers HR teams to manage a geographically dispersed workforce effectively while providing an enjoyable user experience.

Sound like the ideal solution? Book 30 minutes with a product expert to get your questions answered.