Introduction

Global businesses expanding into new countries grapple with a glaring issue: their employer branding often fails to connect locally. Culture nuances are ignored, diversity overlooked, hindering talent engagement. Some local Employer of Record (EOR) partners step in to bridge these gaps, ensuring effective talent recruitment.

The choice between direct approaches and EORs becomes pivotal for success in securing local talent. But be careful, many EOR buyers see this as a transaction—about cost reduction, flexible labour arbitrage, etc. It’s not about building a deep new capability. The branding part is important, but we don’t think it’s the most important issue. Most orgs learn this the hard way. 

Global businesses looking for local talent in targeted expansion countries must ensure their employer brand resonates locally as well as globally. This applies irrespective of whether the recruitment is run directly from head office or via a local Employer of Record (EOR) partner. 

Most global businesses don’t do the local bit well. To be honest, in our experience they’re often shockingly bad.