Report: 2025 global workforce report
Lean HR at global scale: intentional AI shifts the global workforce
Gain findings from over 3,650 HR and business leaders about the emergence of lean HR teams. See which regions have accelerating global hiring, the risks costing companies millions, and how next gen tech and new models enable them to keep up.
What to expect inside:
- How AI and an integrated stack for payroll, compliance and people ops supports small HR teams
- Regions where global hiring is surging, and why most new hires are projected to be overseas by 2026
- Playbooks for leaders on tackling cross-border challenges (from EOR to unified payroll)
Download the report (shared — state of payroll reporting)
Download the report
The next wave: How rapid global hiring becomes manageable with pioneering automation
The surge in international hiring isn’t slowing, and HR teams are responding with new approaches. Teams of fewer than 10 people are handling payroll, compliance and hiring across multiple countries, with AI and integrated systems at their core.
Smaller teams now direct global strategy more intelligently and swiftly, showing that HR’s influence is determined by tools and processes rather than headcount.
In practice, small HR teams are carrying out tasks typical of much larger departments — and succeeding. They achieve this by leveraging existing EOR partnerships while advocating for tighter integration between payroll and HRIS.
Companies that manage cross-border regulations, contractor classification, and multi-currency payroll intelligently can avoid risk and entering new markets faster.
“The first wave of technology in HR made it possible to hire globally. The next wave is transforming how those teams are managed. Beyond supporting HR ops as standard, AI is becoming the operating system for how companies run a global workforce.”
Job van der Voort, CEO & co-founder, Remote.
Intentional AI and intuitive automation drive outcomes
Teams that are making genuine progress with new technology apply AI deliberately and with sufficient foresight to avoid excess. That reduces noise and repetitive administrative tasks, giving teams room to focus on higher-impact priorities. When AI is applied poorly it adds work; when it is embedded thoughtfully within the right systems it reduces it across a global enterprise. All-in-one platforms with a responsive, adaptable HRIS provide lean teams a single hub to manage hiring, payroll and compliance. Combined with self-service employee portals and smart automation that handles routine administration in the background, HR can devote time to culture, retention and growth plans. With foundations like these, small HR teams can scale workforces and deliver an agile employee experience across every market.
Ride the next wave: hyper-global growth is accelerating today and set to continue. Access 'the how' in the 2025 global workforce report
By numbers: Data snapshots of the second-wave expansion for global scale and micro HR
Small HR teams are shouldering global responsibilities
Most companies no longer have large HR departments, yet they still manage hiring, payroll and cross-border compliance, often more effectively.
87%
Of companies, HR teams consist of fewer than 10 people
International hiring has become the default
Leaders expect most new roles to be filled overseas, indicating that international hiring is now the norm rather than the exception.
73%
Expect more than half of new hires to be international by 2026
Automation is taking on HR’s heavy lifting
AI and automation are embedding into HR operations, reducing administrative burden and giving teams greater capacity to focus on growth plans, people and culture.
64%
Of routine HR tasks, many are expected to be automated by 2026
Compliance is the area where companies most commonly stumble
Cross-border expansion is gaining momentum, yet many employers still face regulatory obstacles that slow progress and increase costs.
74%
Have faced compliance challenges overseas
$42,000
Average cost of each compliance incident
Actionable insights from the report
About the survey scope and dataset:
To compile 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 takeaway from the 2025 data: leaders are fed up with managing multiple systems. Many are actively seeking to replace their HRIS.
In fact, 51% say they are currently seeking a replacement platform, and another 36% would consider changing later in exchange for a single, integrated solution that can manage global payroll, compliance and reporting.
The report examines how organisations are navigating this transition and clarifies what effective approaches look like.
Employer of Record services are now mainstream, moving beyond niche solutions.
55% of internationally active companies already rely on an EOR, and overall satisfaction is strong, 76% of leaders who use EORs report they are satisfied with the approach. The report analyses how leaders balance entity formation, contractor strategies and EOR partnerships, and which combinations prove most effective.
Increasingly, contractors are treated as deliberate elements of workforce planning rather than a contingency. 79% of leaders indicate contractors and freelancers now play a more significant role in their strategy.
Many organisations use contractors to probe new markets, access specialised skills and scale headcount flexibly without long-term commitments. The report examines how businesses reconcile this strategy with compliance demands and misclassification risk.
Employees are raising tougher questions around pay. 82% of HR leaders report increased pressure on pay from cost-of-living rises, while 77% believe greater pay transparency will strengthen culture. The analysis examines how leaders are responding to both pressures by reworking compensation, retention and global fairness.
It is unsurprising that AI is present in daily HR work, yet uptake varies. 64% of leaders anticipate that two-thirds of HR’s routine duties will be automated by 2026.
Meanwhile, 28% stopped using an AI hiring tool amid fairness concerns, while 27% adopted new ones.
The report identifies areas where AI is delivering value, where it causes problems, and how leaders are establishing governance.
The majority of companies received employee requests to relocate or to work while travelling over the past year.
80% of leaders said they had received these requests, so employee mobility is no longer an 'edge case'. HR must plan for this now.
The report examines strategies for work-from-anywhere requests, relocation policies, and payroll and compliance tools suited to a workforce that will not remain in one location.
