Hiring remote software engineers

More specifically, Remote’s 2022 Tech Talent Report surveyed 1,485 executives and HR managers across the US, UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden who are hiring tech talent, to explore views on emerging tech hubs. The report highlights misconceptions about remote hiring that may prevent firms from finding outstanding talent in less competitive markets.

Our research shows many businesses that embrace international remote hiring still miss opportunities by concentrating too heavily on traditional tech hubs. These areas show signs of talent market strain and represent a missed chance.

Sell your role: a job ad is more than a job description

One of the simplest ways to stand out in a tight talent market is to present your role more persuasively than competitors.

Too many employers treat a job description as a checklist of requirements. That approach reduces the chance your listing will appeal to high-calibre candidates who review hundreds of ads to find exciting opportunities.

A bit of additional effort will make your job advertisement stand out. Highlight progression opportunities, unique benefits, and a sense of your culture and values. Show how you will support and develop each new hire to demonstrate your organisation’s commitment.

"Job boards attract two main audiences: those actively seeking work and those already employed who might be tempted by a new role. A standard JD will likely reach the first group; the second must be persuaded. Your ad should focus on what the candidate will gain from joining your company. Emphasise why their role will be better at your firm. Use less ‘Our requirements are’ and ‘Our mission is’, and more ‘You will impact these areas of the business’ and ‘You will be passionate about’. Capture attention and make the prospect of interviewing exciting."

Yasmine Gray, Senior Talent Sourcer at Remote

Setting clear expectations also appeals to top international candidates. It reflects your organisation’s professionalism and care for applicants. Small touches like this significantly improve the likelihood your offer stands out.

Keep your process concise and limit the timeline. Excessively long processes with many interview rounds, lengthy psychometric tests, or unpaid technical tasks demand too much time from candidates. Highly skilled professionals are busy and unwilling to work for free; they often avoid cumbersome processes. A CV, interview-based culture fit assessment, and reference checks can often suffice.

Busy engineers cannot commit to protracted interview processes. Streamline where possible and explain clearly why each step matters to the candidate.

Sample process overview to include in job advertisements

A concise overview like the example below can be added to your job ad to set clear expectations and reassure candidates their time commitment will be reasonable:

1

Interview 1 with HR

To assess cultural fit and values alignment

2

Salary discussion with HR

To ensure compensation expectations align

3

Interview 2 with line manager

To assess technical ability and experience

4

Interview 3 with a team member

Opportunity for the candidate to ask questions

5

Interview 4 with a team member

To validate mindset and strategic thinking

Use proactive strategic sourcing to target top global software engineers

Effective recruitment teams adapt their approach when hiring remote engineers. Locating world-class developers is challenging; a global undersupply means you must work smarter and harder to succeed.

Amina Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Radius highlights the importance of transparency in recruitment. By being authentic, hiring managers can foster honest conversations with senior remote engineers to determine the best mutual fit during interviews.

"Because it’s just as important that our team fits the candidate, we begin with transparency about who we are, how we operate, our strengths, and our weaknesses. As a startup we operate differently from established companies, so we openly discuss our financial stage and what that could mean for a new team member. Starting with this candour encourages candidates to share their work styles and preferences, accelerating the relationship and enabling a truer assessment of alignment."

Amina Moreau, CEO and co-founder of Radius

The most overlooked aspect of hiring remote software engineers

The answer is straightforward.

Be clear about how you will validate that candidates reflect your company values.

Hiring the best engineers isn’t exact science. The top candidate for one company might be a poor fit for another. Your process should shift from ‘finding the best engineers’ to ‘finding engineers best suited to your team’.

Lisbon-based Sergio Pereira is CTO at Bulk MRO Industrial Supply. As a strong advocate of remote work, Sergio continually refines internal processes for his distributed team. He explains how Bulk MRO assesses culture fit against company values to identify the best remote software engineers.

"To ensure a candidate fits the team, we involve several team members in hiring to evaluate how a prospective engineer would integrate with team dynamics and contribute to our remote work culture. This cultural assessment complements the technical evaluation of skills."

Sergio Pereira, Chief Technology Officer at Bulk MRO Industrial Supply

Sergio’s insights are useful for leaders aiming to raise retention and improve cultural assessment in recruitment.

It’s not sufficient for leaders to understand their own company culture and values.

Your team should know how to ask the right questions to reveal whether a candidate embodies your company’s values.

Remote’s recruiting team seeks engineers who work well in teams. The ideal fit for Remote is a clear communicator who is collaborative, ambitious, self-driven, and curious.

"At Remote we focus on operationalising our values. We hire accordingly. There is a technical baseline, and we want developers who can write excellent code. But we do not need solitary ‘technical superstars’ who prefer working alone. We need collaborators. During interviews I ask scenario-based questions to see how candidates would act in specific situations, seeking responses that demonstrate care and humility. That’s how we test teamwork and collaboration."

Gabriela Suarez, Expert Recruiter at Remote

When is the right time to evaluate value-match?

The initial screening call with a recruiter.

Although everyone involved in hiring should assess candidates against your values and mission, the screening stage is well suited to exploring this area in depth.

Use this time to evaluate whether the candidate displays the behaviours you expect. Recruiters should focus on value-matching and can eliminate candidates on cultural grounds, while later interviewers assess technical skills and experience.

Once you establish a balanced, aligned, and diverse interview process, execute it with confidence. A consistent process helps reduce bias and lowers the risk of hiring someone who does not align with your culture.

"The benefit of international hiring is clear — access to the world’s best talent. Value-based recruitment lays the groundwork for long-term success. Leaders who hire people with shared values can build inclusive, equitable, and trusting environments that enable global teams to thrive."

Anastasia Pshegodskaya, Director of Talent Acquisition at Remote

How hiring managers can put diversity, equity, and inclusion into practice

Most growth-minded leaders recognise the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Fewer know how to translate that commitment into actionable hiring tactics.

The Remote team is committed to creating opportunities for world-class employment irrespective of a person’s home address.

Our recruitment process is designed to identify and provide opportunities to underrepresented groups. Below is a shortlist of practical steps you can implement now to diversify your team and bring fresh perspectives into your organisation.

Chapter 3

Benefits that attract top remote engineering talent

Excellent benefits can be as important—or even more so—than a high salary. Remote software developers are in demand and often prefer companies that offer the right combination of pay and benefits.

For many employees, strong benefits can create a sense of value even when wages stagnate. Firms that provide competitive and cost-effective value-based benefits, such as flexible and asynchronous working, can attract and retain top talent even without matching large enterprise salaries.

Remote software engineers often expect more than statutory benefits. Candidates look for autonomy through flexible and async work, a supportive culture, stock options, retirement plans, and other perks.

Remote’s 2022 Global Benefits Report found that highlighting flexibility is a key incentive for tech talent, with remote and flexible work repeatedly cited as top priorities when evaluating job offers.

Hiring international software engineers offers major advantages, but HR leaders must design an intentional and fair remote compensation plan to attract and retain top talent.

A straightforward approach to offering competitive global compensation packages

Remote’s global employment platform helps you attract and retain top talent with locally relevant and compliant benefits in every country you hire. Our global benefits specialists create country-specific benefits packages leveraging highly negotiated pricing.

You can provide equitable, best-in-class benefits to remote developers—and to your entire global team—at a fraction of the cost of doing this alone or setting up local entities. You can even offer stock options to your international workforce.

Ensure you meet local statutory obligations

There are several core benefits employers must provide when hiring internationally. These statutory entitlements (such as leave, social security, and insurance) vary by country but are mandatory for any employer.

This variation affects international employers: benefits offered above statutory requirements in one country may be less valued in another. Private health insurance is a significant advantage where government provision is limited, while in Australia fewer employers (about 10% of Australian employers ) provide supplemental private health insurance.

When recruiting globally, familiarise yourself with secondary and non-traditional benefits in each target market.

Software engineers value autonomy and flexibility as much as, or more than, many other workers. Non-traditional benefits like flexible hours appeal to those seeking a better life–work balance. Flexible benefit packages are particularly attractive to people already working remotely.

Essential core benefits—such as sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance, and retirement plans—are seen by many engineers as non-negotiable. Cutting benefits during downturns can severely harm satisfaction and retention.

Essential core benefits—such as sick leave, paid holidays, health insurance, and retirement plans—are seen by many engineers as non-negotiable. Cutting benefits during downturns can severely harm satisfaction and retention.

Remote’s 2022 Global Benefits Report showed that decision-makers hiring internationally use the strong preference for flexible work as a competitive advantage to attract top remote talent.

When leaders consider remote or flexible work, most say the driver is improved retention, access to new markets, and responding to employee needs and requests.

How much should you pay remote software developers?

Determining pay becomes more complex in a global mix of employees and contractors. Start with an employee cost calculator to estimate developer costs by country. Then consult Remote’s Where to Hire Report to identify promising hiring opportunities. Recruiting developers wherever they are located makes sense today: it grants access to a limitless and diverse talent pool, which can enhance productivity and competitiveness. Having team members in countries where you plan to grow is also valuable for market expansion.

Hiring internationally entails costs beyond the salary. Mandated employer contributions can raise total employee cost to roughly 1.25–1.4 times salary, depending on the employee’s country.

For example, say you want to hire a great software engineer based in Argentina with a salary of USD 60,000 yearly. In this scenario, you would incur an extra $15,731.76 in Argentina’s mandated employer costs, including pension and contributions to social welfare and public healthcare. Review the whole compensation package, not just salary and taxes, when making decisions.

You must be competitive to recruit and retain talent. Avoid making insulting offers or damaging your reputation. Equally, don’t overcommit and risk layoffs when markets change. Be thoughtful and use tools like Remote’s resources to help you navigate.

Chapter 4

How to stay compliant when recruiting developers across borders

There are several options for hiring remote developers abroad. You could open a local entity, or hire via an EOR, an employer of record service.

Remember each country has distinct requirements for establishing an entity: from a physical presence to business and payroll tax obligations.

Set up your own local legal entity

If you decide to open an entity, do not underestimate the investment required for setup and ongoing compliance. It involves significant financial cost and time to learn local market and legal nuances, which may make it unviable unless you plan a long-term presence in the country.

If you expect to hire fewer than about 25 employees locally, establishing an entity may not be cost-effective. Entity setup expenses include bank accounts, tax registrations, and possibly physical premises and local hires. You will likely need legal counsel to remain compliant.

Hire developers as contractors

Another option is engaging software engineers as contractors. While this can be simpler than forming an entity, it carries risks.

You might be able to classify people as contractors rather than employees. However, you must correctly classify your workers. Misclassification can lead to fines, penalties, and even bans on hiring in that country.

Before hiring contractors, confirm your agreement would qualify as a legitimate contractor relationship under local law.

Use an employer of record to ensure compliance

Engaging an employer of record (EOR) can be an attractive route for hiring remote developers abroad. An EOR allows you to employ developers full-time without opening an entity. If using an EOR, learn how to evaluate potential EOR partners.

Partnering with an EOR is often the most time- and cost-efficient option for global employment in most scenarios, particularly when you need to hire quickly or accept applications from multiple countries. An EOR lets you avoid establishing local legal entities while reducing compliance exposure. The EOR employs the worker on your behalf and signs a service agreement to protect intellectual property transfers.

What is an employer of record (EOR)?

An EOR is a service that enables companies to hire people in other countries. EORs handle day-to-day HR tasks—managing payroll, taxes, social contributions, and benefits—while ensuring local legal compliance. Working with an EOR transfers the legal employment risk and helps you scale hiring faster with less exposure.

EORs are not co-hiring arrangements, like PEOs are. Legally, the EOR is the employer, but in practice they do not manage day-to-day work.

Think of your EOR as your local HR team in another country. Confirm your EOR has the presence you need in target countries so you remain compliant. Research and understand EOR terminology and practices.

How to hire remote developers with an EOR

In a survey of over 1,400 hiring managers, Remote’s 2022 Tech Talent Report found that hiring managers planning to expand into new regions worry about staying compliant when employing international talent.

• 34% are hesitant to learn local legal requirements for hiring.

• 31% worry about understanding local payroll regulations.

• 26% find learning about local benefits packages a challenge they prefer to avoid.

• 23% are concerned about managing payroll.

These concerns are real, but staying compliant when hiring abroad can be straightforward if you rely on the right partners.

Hiring remote software engineers through an employer of record (EOR) is simple if you select the right partner. The typical steps are to sign up for an EOR platform and start onboarding employees.

Good EOR platforms guide you through employment agreements, localisation of contracts, and payroll setup.

After onboarding, an EOR should manage payroll, benefits, and tax obligations. Remote can also provide relocation support and administer equity incentives and stock options for international employees.

Relying on an EOR partner can save you thousands in legal fees and third-party costs, and streamline international employee management in one place.

Using an EOR is valuable for hiring remote developers. EORs have local specialists who enable hiring in countries where you lack legal presence, and they offer insight into local talent pools and how to attract the right engineers for your needs.

Additionally, EORs can support your remote hiring process. To attract top talent and stay competitive, companies must adapt to the new reality. The boundary between work and home is blurred, and inclusivity underpins effective global recruitment.

Throughout hiring, EORs can advise on which benefits will attract remote engineers. Benefits and perks can make or break an offer in final stages. A strong benefits package can give your company the advantage when candidates compare offers.

Many companies underestimate benefits and focus solely on salary. You cannot afford to offer the minimum if you want elite global talent. With the right EOR you can offer competitive benefits packages worldwide, improving your ability to attract the best remote engineers.

How to stay updated with changing local labour laws

Local labour laws combine statutes, case law, and customary practices. Depending on where payroll is processed, laws may strongly protect employees or be more flexible for employers.

To make a competitive offer to an international candidate, you must understand the norms in their country—compliance basics, payroll practices, tax withholding, and benefits administration duties.

Labour laws cover many topics, including:

• Minimum wage

• Parental leave

• Sector-specific benefits

• Paid leave

• Mandatory benefits

• Worker classification

Managing all these factors within one country is challenging. Multiply that by several countries and you would need a new division to handle administrative work. That is why most companies partner with a global payroll services provider who already understands local requirements.

Not all global payroll providers are equal. Some outsource local tasks to third parties, which can frustrate employees and introduce risk. If hiring abroad, choose an owned-entity global payroll provider.

Every country handles payroll tax and compliance differently. Onboarding international talent is worthwhile, but ensure you understand the obligations before you start. A global payroll partner is one of the best ways to manage diverse tax and payroll requirements.

Chapter 5

Managing payroll for global teams of remote software developers

Paying remote software developers can be complex. The process can be straightforward, even if you are hiring international employees, but you must resolve a few key considerations before onboarding and paying new team members.

Employee or contractor?

First, decide on worker classification. Should you hire remote developers as a contractor or an employee? This is not simple—local employment law matters and misclassification is a real risk.

What is misclassification?

Misclassification happens when a worker is given an incorrect status, whether intentionally or accidentally. Penalties can be severe even for honest mistakes. Avoiding misclassification is about behaviours: if you treat someone like an employee, regulators may eventually classify them as such.

There are other payroll mechanics to consider. Questions to ask include:

• In which currencies will you pay salaries and invoices?

• Do you hold currency accounts for every country where your people live?

• How will you transfer funds? Through traditional banks or fintech providers?

• How will you pay employees who are relocating and lack a local bank account?

• Which payment currency does your new hire prefer? Local currency or your company currency, and is that legal?

• How will you handle foreign exchange volatility?

What are the applicable local labour laws?

Each country imposes specific rules about how to pay remote workers—from pay frequency to statutory benefits and withholding obligations. Know these requirements before hiring to avoid fines or penalties.

The fastest, simplest, safest way to pay remote software developers

Whatever you choose, check local regulations and partner with a trusted global employment partner that can identify issues and reduce risks when hiring in new countries.

Remote owns local legal entities in every country where our EOR services operate. Our global payroll software hub lets you manage payroll and taxes, administer benefits, and ensure compliance for employees wherever they are located.

Remote is the world’s leading employer of record, and our global payroll platform is built to accelerate your international hiring.

• Simplify payments for both full-time employees and contractors within our easy-to-use platform

• Ensure compliance with local labour laws with support from our international legal experts

• Reduce payroll costs and streamline payment processes

If you’re ready, you can sign up now to onboard employees and contractors worldwide in minutes. Have questions? Contact us today and one of our global employment experts can advise you to accelerate your team’s growth.

How to handle taxes for remote software developers

Companies hiring engineers abroad must understand tax implications, as employer taxes vary by country.

Large multinationals have the resources to manage payroll tax and compliance globally. Smaller firms face a tougher challenge: they must compliantly pay international employees without adding payroll and legal teams in every country.

An employer of record streamlines this. Remote’s platform helps you remain compliant and navigate diverse tax codes. Partnering with Remote eases the burden on your finance team and prevents non-compliance risks. An EOR manages global payroll compliance to help you scale headcount without breaching international laws.

Running global payroll involves much more than issuing pay on the first of the month. Depending on country and worker classification, payroll tasks include withholding taxes, calculating wages, and complying with local labour rules—work that is time-consuming for HR, payroll, finance, and legal teams.

How to offer stock options to remote developers

Stock options are a powerful tool to attract and retain talent, but they can be difficult for private companies. You may wonder how to extend your stock option plan to remote hires abroad or how to create such a plan to attract remote developers.

An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) helps attract and retain great employees. Ownership aligns incentives and engagement, but offering stock to international employees requires careful handling of taxes and local regulations.

Remote enables you to manage international stock option services and other equity incentives for global teams. We can help you include international employees in your ESOP legally and manage tax withholding across multiple countries, giving you the benefits of a global equity plan without the administrative burden.

To benefit from offering stock options to your international workforce, you must plan and execute your ESOP strategy effectively—considering employee locations, tax handling, and the design of your complete global benefits package. Whether you offer stock to a single remote hire or a distributed team, Remote can support the process.

Should you hire remote software developers as employees or contractors?

Understanding the distinction between a contractor and an employee is critical. Each option has benefits and risks, and misclassification can be costly.

Deciding whether to engage an international contractor or hire an employee requires cost–benefit analysis and consideration of contract management, local laws, and compliance. Knowing how to remain compliant with international contractors and employees is essential to avoid legal consequences.

An international contractor is someone living in another country who performs work for your company but is not a full-time employee. You are the client, not the employer. An international contractor is not your employee but has agreed to work under specific terms:

International contractors are accountable for the contracted work and may serve multiple clients. They are typically self-employed and run their own businesses.

Employees work for an extended period, usually for one employer, and may manage teams or oversee long-term projects. Employee contracts typically lack expiration dates, unlike contractor agreements—the key risk factor is the duration and nature of duties.

Employees work for an extended period, usually for one employer, and may manage teams or oversee long-term projects. Employee contracts typically lack expiration dates, unlike contractor agreements—the key risk factor is the duration and nature of duties.

Key considerations for remote software developers include the nature of projects and who owns the IP produced. Remote work adds complexity to these issues.

If contracts are not compliant and workers are misclassified, you risk a situation where a contractor abroad owns IP you expected to retain.

This is not an argument against hiring employees abroad; a global workforce strengthens companies. But take care to manage risks—every country has different IP laws, so understand local nuances to protect your business.

Remember contractors may split attention between clients. Understand NDA protections, local IP law, and how the information you share with developers interacts with these protections.

To safeguard IP during international hiring, Remote created Remote IP Guard so you receive maximum IP rights transfer when hiring abroad.

Chapter 6

Working with remote developers

Working with remote developers has its challenges. Many prefer flexibility and do not perform well in rigid environments. They work when creativity peaks and appreciate autonomy to develop, test, and iterate. When considering how to manage remote employees, software engineers are often a primary focus.

Many developers prefer working at their own pace. This model can be unfamiliar to companies used to 9–5 schedules. When hiring internationally, you must adapt to varied schedules and time zones. The solution is often asynchronous work.

Asynchronous (async) work lets remote developers perform at their best at times that suit them, without expecting immediate replies. Async working emphasises documentation, public records of progress, and longer periods of focused work, enabling autonomy and trust.

In short, async work is not about procrastination or isolation. It allows employees to enter flow states to produce high-quality work efficiently. Async methods let remote developers focus on outcomes rather than suffer micromanagement.

Synchronous work planning

Traditional synchronous planning starts tasks in batches. It is workable, but progress is limited by the slowest element—delays propagate through the pipeline as each stage depends on the previous one.

The diagram shows a three-stage development pipeline managed synchronously. To deploy a feature, tasks A, B, and C must complete sequentially, which can slow delivery—especially across time zones.

Asynchronous work planning

Async planning breaks tasks into smaller pieces and releases Minimum Viable Changes (MVCs) frequently. This enables faster delivery, quicker measurement of impact, and faster responses to negative feedback.

By separating Tasks A, B, and C you can achieve three times more deploys than the synchronous example. Multiplexing tasks with async work shortens iteration time and provides more opportunities for validation and rollback when necessary.

Overall, async methods let distributed development teams multiplex tasks, accelerate delivery, and operate across time zones without waiting on dependent tasks.

How to protect your intellectual property with remote software developers

Protecting IP is vital. How can you be sure data and creations are safe when working with remote employees globally, some of whom are contractors and may have other clients?

Protecting IP requires recognising the cross-border nature of creation. Some jurisdictions favour the creator, others protect the commissioner. While contractors do not automatically own your IP, you must draft contracts carefully and consider local rules.

IP rights are straightforward when everyone is co-located: work done on company time with company resources typically belongs to the company. Remote and international teams complicate IP and invention rights; many countries lack comprehensive rules for tech IP. Firms with distributed engineers must remain vigilant.

Partnering with an EOR like Remote gives you the expertise and protections needed to prevent IP loss. Remote offers industry-leading IP protection through Remote IP Guard, a proprietary system securing international IP and invention rights. As a leading global employment solutions provider, Remote helps businesses with workers in many countries protect their IP from internal and external risks.

Begin hiring remote software engineers to scale your business

Hiring remote software developers can feel daunting. The first step is committing to improving your team; the next is partnering with experts for legal, compliance, payroll, and benefits support—either via an EOR or local partners if you set up an entity.

Expect obstacles along the way. Stay focused and assemble the right resources—finding the right developers to diversify your team will significantly boost your company’s capacity to innovate.

Opening your hiring to a global pool of skilled remote software engineers futureproofs your recruitment strategy and builds a foundation for long-term success.

Remote provides the resources and flexibility to fill gaps and offer protection where you need it most. Contact our global team if you would like more information on how to start hiring and paying remote software developers.