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Oct 1, 2024
We are reaching the peak of globalization in an interconnected world where one of the key determinants of a tech company’s success is the ability to attract and hire global talent.
Having top talent at your disposal fosters innovation, drives growth, and facilitates business success. Top tech companies have always been at the forefront of attracting global talent; however, in the past decade, start-ups and emerging tech companies have also joined the race to recruit international candidates.
The talent market is more competitive than ever, and companies need to be more innovative and proactive in their global talent search.
This blog aims to provide tech companies with invaluable insights and practical advice on the benefits of hiring global talent, complexities in their talent discovery, and effective ways to address those challenges in their talent strategy.
So, let’s dive in!
Global talent offers tech companies a wide range of benefits. Companies can access specialized skills, develop diverse perspectives, and have a competitive edge by expanding their talent search internationally.
Here are a few reasons why your companies should hire global talent:
Innovative ideas and the transfer of valuable knowledge and skills to your Canadian workforce. Global talent can be a resource to upskill local workers by creating opportunities for formal and informal on-the-job knowledge transfer.
For example, onboarding an employee from a parent company outside of Canada who holds specialized knowledge of the company’s processes and/or products, or a manager who has decades of experience in a niche industry with a proven track record of optimizing the performance of their direct reports. These transfers can directly benefit the Canadian company’s bottom line.
It is not uncommon for a company in Canada to conduct recruitment to fill a skill or knowledge gap within their existing workforce. Despite best efforts to fill the role locally, it is possible that none of the local applicants have the required skills or knowledge to fill the gap.
For example, when servicing client engagements where the client has specific requests or needs requiring innovative solutions, companies may need to act quickly to find a resource outside of the Canadian talent pool that can meet those needs. In a global marketplace where companies are constantly competing to not only secure but also retain client work, having the right value proposition can make all the difference.
Hiring global talent can mean offering a competitive edge with a workforce that has skills acquired through international education and experience that are not readily available in Canada.
Remote work has become more common than ever in recent years and it can allow companies who are based outside of Canada to effectively service their clients in Canada without the need to be physically present. However, various factors such as the increasing scope of the project deliverables, cyber security concerns, or the need for collaboration with local resources on site can mean global talent must be moved to Canada to facilitate the expansion of the business and project(s) in Canada.
Due to growing demands in some industries without a matched growth in skilled labour needed to fill the demand, there are certain occupations that will experience labour shortages in Canada.
Employment, Skills and Social Development Canada tracks and makes publicly available data on current and projected labour shortages.
Every business needs a strategy to attract global talent. However, many businesses struggle to formulate and optimize their global talent strategy that often hinders their recruitment process. Here are some potential challenges a company may face when developing/executing their global talent strategy:
Finding global talent and relocating them across borders is a complex process with a significant financial aspect to it. While some multinational companies have the benefit of transferring their existing employees to Canada from offices overseas, many Canadian companies are not multinational and must rely upon traditional advertising and head-hunters to locate global talent.
Given the costs which can include recruitment, competitive compensation packages, and coverage of relocation expenses, the employers must invest in global talent who will bring a real benefit to their business and execute onboarding with a well-planned and cost-effective strategy.
As the demand for global talent is ever-growing, there is heightened competition in attracting and hiring qualified employees from a global pool of prospective employees. In this competitive market, employers now – more than ever- need to have the right resources in order to recruit and retain the right global talent.
It is important that employers have the right resources, sufficient knowledge, and proper support mechanisms to appropriately approach global talent and put forward an offer that will be seen as desirable and competitive from that person’s unique perspective.
The process, documentation, and timeline to onboard global talent will be determined by the physical location and nationality of not just the prospective employee, but also their family.
At the very initial stage of the hiring and relocation process, employers will need to understand what options are available to obtain the right visas and authorizations for a prospective employee and any accompanying family members. They need to understand what steps will need to be taken by the employer, and what steps the prospective employee is responsible for.
Identifying these issues and resolving them can go a long way, especially, when a company attempts to scale its global talent attraction strategy.
To elaborate on the challenges above and to demonstrate how a company can resolve those challenges, we developed a case study in the next section.
Let’s take a look at a talent search scenario that involves the immigration process:
Company A has been operating in Canada for over 40 years. Due to increasing competition from newly established companies, innovation in the market and economic pressures, Company A has been struggling to keep up and their revenue has been decreasing over the past few years.
Company A’s Chief Executive Officer has been considering retiring and concerned for the company’s future, feels that accelerating their retirement plan might be best to allow the business to fill the role with someone who will bring a fresh set of eyes and new knowledge to the business.
After obtaining the appropriate work authorization for Canada, the candidate commences their role and within a few years has transferred their unique knowledge to the local workforce, changed the company’s operations to optimize their market position, and the business has seen a significant increase in revenue allowing them to profitably expand their team and continue to grow.
If you are reading this section, then it is highly likely that you are considering hiring global tech talent or optimizing your talent search strategy.
If this is the case, the teams at Invest Ottawa and Green and Spiegel are here to help!
Green and Spiegel is Canada’s largest and oldest immigration law practice with over 60 years of experience assisting a diverse global clientele. With more than 40 lawyers in Canada and the US, Green and Spiegel offers a full range of Canadian and American immigration services for employers, temporary workers, individuals, and their families.
Invest Ottawa is Ottawa’s leading economic development agency for fostering the advancement of the region’s globally competitive knowledge-based institutions and industries. The organization also helps businesses expand their global footprint and find the right global talent through its comprehensive talent program.
Together, the two organizations can help you find and hire the right global talent through:
Invest Ottawa’s global talent program has extensive resources for talent scouts, hiring managers, and businesses looking to expand to Ottawa. With these resources, they can help businesses to find the right global talent.
Green and Spiegel’s team boasts a deep understanding of corporate and personal immigration needs. Their breadth of expertise in providing employers and global talent the necessary immigration knowledge and support is invaluable to ensuring the process of onboarding global talent is completed seamlessly.
They specialize in all categories of work authorization, including applications for work permits, work permit exemptions, and Labour Market Impact Assessments, and assist their clients with the process from start to finish. They can also prepare business visitor applications, visitor and study visas, and permits, as well as applications for permanent residency and citizenship.
Both Green and Spiegel and Invest Ottawa have extensive knowledge and experience in working with individuals and corporations from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. This experience allows us to understand the perspective of global talent and their prospective employer to make the right connection between them.
Interested in Optimizing Your Talent Strategy?Invest Ottawa has a comprehensive range of programs, services, and resources to help startups, scaleups, and multinational tech companies discover and hire the right global talent.
Connect with Invest Ottawa’s talent team today and learn more about how to discover global talent for your company. For any immigration-related questions, contact Green and Spiegel.
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