Acting global to benefit local
I had an interesting conversation with David O’Reilly, senior director at Globalization Partners, during Dublin Tech Week. Before I get to the gist of our chat, I should point out that I was not at the event in person, what with the eye-watering extortionate prices currently being charged by hotels in the capital.
To adopt Pearse Doherty’s remarks about it being cheaper for someone in Ireland to see Bruce Springsteen in Rome than Dublin, I’m guessing the same would probably apply for someone in Ireland to attend Rome Tech Week compared to Dublin Tech Week. It would be warmer too.
Anyway, back to Globalization Partners with its mission to eliminate the traditional HR, legal and tax hurdles companies face when building global remote teams. With its own business entities in over 180 countries in the world, the work required “to hire and manage international talent is already done”. Essentially, the pitch is to enable companies “to hire anyone, anywhere, within minutes – without setting up international branch offices”.
What this means is that a company in Ireland, for example, can hire employees in another country, such as Italy, using Globalization Partners, without having to set up its own operation there. O’Reilly says this is especially attractive to smaller companies trying to be careful about how they spend their money while being able to reassure venture capitalists that they can still take advantage of global expansion opportunities “but do it in a more cost-effective way”.
It works the other way too. A French company might be tempted to employ a developer in Ireland because the total costs of employment would be less than in France but it wouldn’t have to set up its own operation here to bring that person on board.
With the surge in people keen to work remotely, there is an added attraction in being able to employ someone in the country where they choose to reside rather than limit that choice to one where the company has an office. O’Reilly cites research that 76% of people would give up another benefit for the flexibility and opportunity to work from anywhere. Clearly, if the employer can offer them that flexibility, it can attract potential employees and retain those it already has should they fancy a change of scene.
“A lot of people who were allowed to work from home wanted the opportunity to do that from anywhere but were hindered by where the company had an entity,” O’Reilly notes. “They can work with us through our platform and allow that person to work from anywhere while ensuring they are legally and compliantly employed within the labour laws of where they move to.”
He notes that a lot of companies are finding that of value when it comes to retaining talent.
“Globalization Partners removes the requirement to set up local entities in different countries. It allows the company to legally employ a person where they’re based whether it has a legal entity in that region or not.”
Founded in 2012 in Boston, Globalization Partners announced plans to establish a technology centre of excellence in Galway in 2020. In January 2020, Founder & Executive Chair Nicole Sahin revealed plans to create 160 jobs in Galway in 2022, doubling its headcount. She told the Sunday Independent the company planned to “get way past that. Way past 400”.
O’Reilly describes the Galway operation as the hub for EMEA and central to the company’s growth. It is already working with customers from all over the EMEA region.
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