How UK Employers Are Reducing Labour Costs Through Global Hiring

Key takeaways

• The rising cost of employment in the UK has led many British firms to shift their strategy toward hiring in other countries.

• UK firms are hiring overseas employees for a wide variety of roles, and are able to find skilled workers and save costs by strategically choosing what countries to hire in.

• Working with a global recruitment partner and an employer of record (EOR) can give you access to new talent pools and reduce hiring times.

The current picture

UK employers are navigating one of the most significant jumps in employment costs in recent years. Employer National Insurance rose from 13.8% to 15% in April 2025, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility — a significant increase in payroll costs for many UK-based roles.

But while some organizations have paused hiring altogether, others are taking a more strategic route: reallocating roles abroad through global hiring models.

The cost crunch: NIC, wages, and budget fatigue

From manufacturing to tech, finance to sales — no matter what the industry, UK employers are under pressure. According to the latest figures from CIPD, inflation is driving wage demands higher, and benefits packages are expanding to stay competitive. The National Insurance hike was the tipping point for many firms who now find their fixed UK workforce model unsustainable.

Strategic reallocation over hiring freezes

Rather than stop hiring, many UK companies are simply shifting where and how they hire. International workforce models — enabled through employer of record (EOR) services and global recruitment partners — offer a way to:

• Reduce cost per hire

• Access high-quality talent

• Maintain service levels without expanding UK payroll

According to our internal data, UK clients are building repeatable hiring patterns in overseas markets, often hiring two or more employees in the same function and country. This isn’t exploratory — it’s a signal of strategic team formation.

Where UK companies are hiring instead

UK clients are creating functional delivery hubs in cost-effective or strategically aligned countries:

Tier 1 (cost-down hubs):

• India:Ops, tech and analyst roles

• South Africa: English-speaking recruiting and customer support

• Poland: Back-office, recruitment, engineering

• Romania : Payroll, tech, admin, and travel ops

• Taiwan: Engineering, program management, and supply chain for tech

• Philippines*: Shared services, payroll, support

*While the Philippines has long been a natural expansion choice globally, it's worth learning why it appears on our riskiest countries list.

Tier 2 (mid-cost/regionally strategic):

• Mexico: Sales, channel, and grants delivery roles

• Colombia: Sales, channel roles, commercial delivery

• Malta: SEO, content, and product roles in gaming and digital media

• Portugal: Support, travel coordination, and brand ops

• Spain: Tech, architecture, and commercial leadership

Tier 3 (high-cost/strategic presence markets):

• Germany: Sales, technical, and region-specific leadership hires

• China: Engineering, product, and APAC-facing commercial roles

• USA: Clinical, commercial, and leadership roles for market access

• South Korea: Enterprise sales and solution consulting for software expansion

What roles are being reallocated?

These are the roles most commonly shifted to lower-cost or regionally strategic countries — helping UK employers reduce payroll burden without sacrificing output.

• Finance & Payroll: Finance analysts, payroll admins, service support specialists

• People & Talent: Recruiters, talent coordinators, sourcing specialists

• Operations & Delivery: Business analysts, project managers, back-office coordinators

• Tech & Engineering: Software developers, test engineers, SEO specialists

• Commercial & GTM: Account executives, channel managers, sales engineers

These are not isolated moves. Many UK clients are forming teams abroad over multiple months — clearly shifting delivery capacity to lower-cost markets while keeping quality high. In lower-cost countries alone, we observed more than 100 hires across non-revenue functions like finance, recruiting, and service operations — many forming new delivery teams that replace or supplement UK-based roles.

Why EOR + recruiting makes this work

Global hiring is complex — but it can be simpler with the right partner. Safeguard Global combines Global Recruitment with EOR to support you throughout the entire employee lifecycle:

• Recruit global talent fast — top candidate profiles delivered in two to seven business days

• Hire in nearly 190 countries without opening entities

• Onboard new employees in as little as two days

• Stay fully compliant with local laws

• Reduce time-to-hire with targeted recruitment support

• Compare role costs and hiring timeframes across global markets

See how real numbers could affect you

Contact us today for a complimentary Spotlight workforce optimisation dashboard of how your talent strategy could evolve and scale. Your personalized estimate includes:

• Country-by-country salary benchmarking

• Social costs, onboarding fees, and VAT

• Service fee estimates and total cost range

Whether you have a role in mind or just want to explore options, we’ll help you size up where global hiring could make the biggest impact.

Request a Spotlight dashboard.

Don’t let labour costs stall your growth. Rethink your strategy.