How to hire remote developers through an EOR?

Hiring skilled developers globally is now a sought-after option. However, managing compliance, payroll, and contracts across countries can get challenging. Businesses that want to hire remote developers through an EOR can streamline the entire process with complete legal support and zero administrative burden.

An Employer of Record will take care of everything, ranging from onboarding to payroll. Hence, companies can access top talent anywhere in the world without setting up a local entity.

This blog explains how businesses can hire remote developers via an EOR by simplifying compliance, onboarding, payroll, and global workforce management.

What is an Employer of Record?

An Employer of Record is a third-party organization that legally employs workers on behalf of a company. While the business handles the employee’s day-to-day tasks, the EOR will take the responsibility of all HR, legal, payroll, and compliance functions in the employee’s country. An EOR for software engineers will handle the following:

• Employment contracts compliant with local laws
• Salary payments and payroll processing
• Social contributions and tax withholdings
• Offboarding and onboarding
• Compliance with local labor and tax regulations
• Risk mitigation for global hiring
• Termination procedures follow local laws.

This model enables businesses to hire globally or remote talent without setting up a local entity. This reduces the operational costs, helps in avoiding legal risks, and accelerates hiring timelines.

Why use an EOR to hire remote developers? 

Hiring a remote developer gives businesses access to global talent; however, managing international employment accompanies multiple complicated legal, HR, and tax-related responsibilities. An Employer of Record for developers removes these challenges. This allows companies to hire the best developers globally without establishing local entities or navigating unfamiliar regulations. Some of the reasons why tech talent recruitment via EOR is the most efficient and risk-free way for global remote hiring include:

1. Instant global hiring without establishing a local entity

Establishing a subsidiary or branch in another country is an expensive and time-consuming process. An EOR allows you to legally hire developers anywhere in the world within days and not months.

2. Complete compliance with local labor laws

Each country has various rules for employment contracts, benefits, taxes, benefits, IP protection, overtime, and termination. An EOR will ensure that the remote developers are hired in compliance with local regulations, thus reducing legal risks.

3. Streamlined payroll and tax management

The EOR will handle payroll, tax deductions, social contributions, and statutory benefits on the company’s behalf. This will ensure the developers are paid on time regardless of the country.

4. Reduced hiring costs

Working with an EOR will help you avoid the process of setting up an entity, legal consultations, payroll systems, and compliant remote hiring, which saves significant time and money. You will only be required to pay for the developers and the EOR service.

5. Quick hiring and onboarding

EORs shorten the remote developer hiring process by providing contracts available for use, automated onboarding, and quick payroll setup. This allows you to begin working with developers immediately.

Step-by-Step: How to hire remote developers via an EOR

Hiring remote developers through an Employer of Record (EOR) is one of the quickest, safest, and most compliant ways to build global engineering teams. Here is a simple breakdown of how the process functions:

1. Define the requirements

Begin by sharing the role details with the EOR:

• Job titles and responsibilities
• Required technical skills
• Years of experience
• Working hours or time zone overlap
• Budget and preferred hiring countries

This would help the EOR identify the correct talent market and prepare compliant hiring terms.

2. EOR will source or onboard the candidates

Generally, depending on your need, the EOR will either-

• Source qualified remote developers from the talent pool or
• Onboard your pre-selected candidates

The EOR would ensure profiles, qualifications, and documents comply with local employment standards.

3. Candidate selection and evaluation

You tend to have complete control over the hiring decision. Your team would be required to conduct the following:

• Technical interviews
• Coding tests
• Culture-related assessments

Once you pick the developer, the EOR will move to formal onboarding.

4. EOR issues a legally compliant contract

The EOR will prepare an employment agreement that aligns with the developer’s local labor laws. This usually includes the following:

• Salary
• Working hours
• Benefits
• IP protection
• Data security
• Mandatory local requirements

5. Set up payroll, taxes, and statutory benefits

The EOR would enroll the developer into the following:

• Local tax systems
• Social security
• Mandatory insurance
• Statutory benefits
• Local payroll cycles

Your only responsibility would be to pay for one consolidated invoice.

6. Continuous contingent management

The EOR will ensure the current alignment with local laws. This includes:

• Updated benefits
• Adjusted tax rules
• Labor law changes
• Overtime and holiday compliance

Key benefits of working with an EOR for startups and tech companies

Scaling a startup or tech company needs speed, flexibility, and access to top talent. However, expanding internationally will also bring complicated legal, tax, and HR challenges. An Employer of Record for developers will solve these problems by acting as the legal employer for the international hires, thus allowing you to focus on building the product while they handle compliance.

Some of the biggest advantages include the following:

1. Hire global talent without setting up an entity

Tech teams often grow quite rapidly. However, establishing a legal entity in each country would significantly slow you down. An EOR will enable you to hire top-skilled developers, designers, and engineers anywhere within a few days.

2. Complete compliance with tax laws and local labor laws

Every country has a unique set of employment regulations. An EOR ensures all contracts, benefits, and payroll meet local laws, protecting startups from fines, legal disputes, and penalties.

3. Faster and unproblematic hiring

Startups cannot afford long hiring cycles. EORs will handle paperwork, onboarding, payroll setup, and local registrations. This enables instant deployment of new team members.

4. Cost-effective global expansion

Steer clear of consultants, legal fees, company creation costs, and continuing administration costs. With an EOR, you only have to pay for the worker and their services, making international hiring affordable for startups.

5. Decreased operational and legal risk

Inaccurate payroll, unfair termination, or misclassification can lead to costly issues.

An EOR greatly lowers employer risk and takes on a legal obligation.

Common countries for EOR-based dev hiring

Hiring remote developers via an Employer of Record (EOR) will allow companies to tap into global tech talent without dealing with local compliance or entity setup. Among the top destinations, India, Mexico, and the Philippines stand out for their strong developer talent, affordability, and seamless collaboration.

• India

India has one of the biggest pools of highly qualified developers in the world, with expertise in software engineering, AI/ML, cloud, and full-stack development. EORs make hiring in India easy, quick, and compliant with their great English proficiency and economic talent.

• Mexico

For nearshore development, Mexico is a popular option, particularly for American businesses. Collaboration is made easy by its time zone alignment, strong technical capabilities, and expanding developer community. Without the need for a local company, an EOR guarantees fully compliant recruiting.

• Phillipines

The Philippines has outstanding talent in the fields of web development, mobile engineering, DevOps, and technical support. The nation is perfect for remote tech teams due to its competitive prices and high English proficiency. EORs make hiring worry-free by streamlining contracts, payroll, and compliance.

How Global Squirrels help in hiring a remote developer?

Hiring remote developers usually offers access to global talent. But companies often face challenges related to time zones, communication, skill verification, and productivity. Global Squirrels solves these challenges by combining an advanced hiring platform with Employer of Record (EOR) compliance, AI-powered sourcing, and HR support.

Given below are some of the key challenges in hiring remote developers and how Global Squirrels provides effective solutions.

1. Hire based on the time zone that works for you

Global Squirrels helps companies choose the right country with compatible time zones. For example, India for late-night overlap and Mexico for nearshore US alignment. We only shortlist the developers who can match your preferred working hours or overlap windows. We support flexible scheduling and ensure developers understand the project expectations.

2. Overcome communication barriers

At Global Squirrels, we shortlist developers with strong English-speaking skills and proven remote-work communication skills. We also use automated tools and structured onboarding to align developers with company communication standards.

3. Assess the talent’s technical skills

Global Squirrels use AI-powered sourcing to identify developers with verified skills, project history, and experience. This allows companies to run technical assessments, coding tests, and live interviews directly through the platform.

Our plans

The Orange Plan enables you to hire offshore talent quickly. You will only be required to sign up, share the role details, and our team will handle the payroll, benefits, performance management, and complete global compliance. The Purple Plan makes onboarding your pre-screened candidate simple by managing payroll, timesheets, benefits, and all compliance steps once you submit the details. The Blue Plan will allow you to hire top talent who work from dedicated offices while we manage onboarding, payroll, compliance, and performance.

Final thoughts

Hiring remote developers through an EOR will allow companies to access global talent without dealing with legal, payroll, or compliance challenges. With Global Squirrels, businesses can manage onboarding, HR, and country-specific regulations to scale quickly and confidently.

Ready to hire globally with ease? Book a demo.