3 Ways Hire Employees Internationally Without a Local Entity

When your company begins expanding beyond its home market, international hiring becomes one of the quickest ways to access new talent, reduce costs, and widen time-zone coverage. But the complexity starts immediately, each country has different labour laws, payroll rules, and tax obligations. Setting up a legal entity in every region can drain your time and focus when your real priority is building the right team.

The good news, you don’t need a local entity to hire full-time employees compliantly abroad. Scalable solutions now allow you to onboard global talent without months of paperwork or navigating unfamiliar regulations.

This guide explains how international hiring works without a local entity, the options available, and how to choose the best model for your business.

Why Companies Hire Internationally

You are not alone exploring this path. Many companies take this approach because it offers simple access to talent and faster expansion. Here are some common reasons:

1. Access to a Wider Talent Pool

Hiring globally allows companies to reach skilled professionals that may be scarce or highly competitive in their home market.

2. Cost Efficiency and Budget Optimization

Different regions offer varied salary expectations and operational costs, enabling businesses to manage budgets more effectively while still securing top talent.

3. Around-the-Clock Productivity

With teams spread across multiple time zones, companies can maintain continuous operations, support customers faster, and accelerate project timelines.

4. Deeper Market Insights

Local employees bring firsthand knowledge of their region’s culture, customer behavior, and business landscape, helping companies enter new markets more successfully.

5. Enhanced Innovation and Diversity

A globally distributed team brings diverse perspectives and ideas, leading to more creative problem-solving and better decision-making across the organisation.

Hiring Models You Can Use Without a Local Entity

There are 3 ways you can use it whenever you want to hire employees internationally:

1. Engage Independent Contractors

This is usually the first route companies explore. Contractors offer flexibility and lower costs, and you do not need to run payroll in their country. However, this option works best only when the nature of work is project based.

A contractor model becomes risky when you expect full time hours, fixed schedules, or direct management of the individual. Many countries treat those conditions as employee indicators, which could expose your business to misclassification risks.

2. Use a Freelance or Outsourced Vendor

Another option is to work with agencies or freelancers on a commercial contract. This gives you more structure than working with individuals, but it still does not provide the stability of hiring an employee dedicated to your business.

3. Partner with an Employer of Record (EOR)

This is the most reliable and scalable method for hiring employees without creating a local entity. An Employer of Record is a trusted partner that becomes the legal employer on your behalf in a given country. They take care of compliance, payroll, statutory contributions, benefits, and ongoing employee management.

You maintain full control over the employee’s work, responsibilities, and performance. The EOR handles the local legal requirements that your company would normally be responsible for if it had its own entity.

For many scaling companies, this model makes cross border hiring fast, safe, and operationally simple.

Conclusion

Expanding globally does not have to be complicated or expensive. When you use the right hiring model, especially an Employer of Record, you get a safe and efficient way to onboard international employees without setting up local entities. Your team grows faster, your operations stay compliant, and your focus remains on building momentum in new markets.

If you are exploring international hiring across Southeast Asia, Glints TalentHub EOR gives you an end to end solution from sourcing and hiring to onboarding and managing employees. This helps you scale with confidence while keeping operations simple.

This article is brought to you by Glints TalentHub. Leading companies are actively building their borderless teams in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and beyond. However, the prospect of going borderless can be daunting due to complex regulations and cultural ambiguities. With Glints TalentHub, you’ll have a dedicated team of in-market legal, HR, and talent experts by your side at every step of the way.

Glints TalentHub offers an end-to-end, tech-enabled talent solution that encompasses talent acquisition, EOR, and talent development. We empower businesses to leverage the strengths of regional talent efficiently to build high-performing, cost-efficient teams.

Schedule a no-obligation consultation with our experts to receive a tailored proposal today!