2025 global workforce report
Lean HR, global scale: how intentional AI is reshaping the global workforce
Gain insights from more than 3,650 HR and business leaders about the growth of lean HR teams. Find out where international hiring is speeding up, the risks costing organisations millions, and how next-gen tech and new models enable them to keep pace.
What you'll find inside:
- How AI plus an integrated stack for payroll, compliance and people ops supports small HR teams
- Which regions are seeing rapid global hiring, and why leaders expect the majority of new hires to be overseas by 2026
- Practical playbooks for leaders to tackle cross-border challenges (from EOR to unified payroll)
Download the report (shared — current state of payroll reports)
Download the report
The next wave: as global hiring expands rapidly, pioneering automation keeps it manageable
International hiring keeps accelerating, and HR teams are shifting how they operate. Teams commonly under ten people are handling payroll, compliance and hiring across multiple countries, with AI and integrated systems at the centre.
Smaller teams are now delivering global strategy more intelligently and rapidly, showing HR’s impact is driven by the tools and processes available rather than headcount.
In practice, small HR teams are performing the duties of much bigger departments — and succeeding. They’re relying on existing EOR partnerships while also moving towards tighter integration between payroll and HRIS.
Companies that manage cross-border regulations, contractor classification and multi‑currency payroll the smart way can avoid risk and move into new markets faster.
“The first wave of HR tech made global hiring possible. The next wave is changing how those teams are led. Beyond streamlining HR ops, AI is emerging as the operating system for managing a global workforce.”
Job van der Voort, CEO & co-founder, Remote.
Intentional AI and intuitive automation are central to success
Teams that are getting results use AI thoughtfully, avoiding excess. That reduces noise and repetitive admin, freeing teams to focus on higher-impact work. Applied badly, AI adds overhead; when integrated smartly into the right systems, it streamlines work across a global business. All-in-one platforms with a responsive, adaptable HRIS give lean teams one place to handle hiring, payroll and compliance. Combined with self-service employee portals and smart automation that quietly handles routine admin, HR can spend time on culture, retention and growth planning. With these foundations, small HR teams can scale headcount and deliver a consistent, agile employee experience across all markets.
By the numbers: quick snapshots of second-wave expansion metrics for global scale and micro HR
Small HR teams are shouldering global responsibilities
Many companies no longer have large HR departments, yet they still manage cross-border hiring, payroll and compliance — and frequently do it more effectively.
87%
of companies have HR teams of fewer than 10 people
International hiring is becoming the norm
Leaders anticipate most new positions will be filled overseas, indicating international hiring has become the standard rather than the exception.
73%
expect over half of new hires to be international by 2026
Automation is taking on HR’s heavy lifting
AI and automation are operating behind the scenes in HR, reducing administrative load and giving teams extra capacity for expansion, people priorities and culture.
64%
of routine HR tasks are projected to be automated by 2026
Compliance is the area where companies most often stumble
Cross-border expansion is accelerating, yet many employers still hit regulatory hurdles that slow progress and increase costs.
74%
have encountered compliance challenges overseas
$42,000 USD
average cost per compliance incident
Actionable insights in the report
About the survey scope and dataset:
To assemble this dataset, we surveyed 3,650 HR and business leaders (director level and above) across the USA, UK, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Singapore and South Korea.
A clear signal from the 2025 data: leaders are fed up with juggling multiple systems. Many are actively seeking to replace their HRIS.
In fact, 51% are actively looking for a new platform today, and a further 36% would consider switching later for a single, integrated solution that covers global payroll, compliance and reporting.
The report examines how companies are making the change and what “good” looks like.
Employer of Record services have moved into the mainstream, leaving the niche solution space.
55% of companies with international employees already use an EOR, and overall satisfaction is high, 76% of leaders using EORs report they’re satisfied with the model. The report breaks down how leaders are balancing entity setup, contractor usage and EOR partnerships, and which combinations work best in practice.
Increasingly, contractors are seen as an intentional element of workforce design rather than a stopgap. 79% of leaders report contractors and freelancers now play a more significant role in their strategy.
Many companies use contractors to pilot new markets, access specialist skills and flex headcount without long-term commitments. The report examines how firms balance this approach with compliance demands and misclassification risks.
Employees are asking tougher questions about pay. 82% of HR leaders report increased pay pressure because of cost-of-living rises, while 77% believe pay transparency will strengthen culture. The report examines how leaders are reacting to these twin pressures by rethinking compensation, retention and global fairness.
Not surprisingly, AI is now part of daily HR work, though adoption varies. 64% of leaders expect about two-thirds of routine HR tasks to be automated by 2026.
At the same time, 28% have stopped using an AI hiring tool due to fairness concerns, while 27% have adopted new tools.
The report shows where AI is making an impact, where it’s causing problems, and how leaders are tackling governance.
Most companies have received requests from employees to relocate or work while travelling in the past year.
80% of leaders reported receiving these requests, so employee mobility is no longer an 'edge case'. HR needs to plan for it now.
The report examines strategies for work-from-anywhere requests, relocation policies, and payroll and compliance tools for a mobile workforce.
