If you run a startup and have plans to expand on a grand scale, you probably already understand the challenges involved. However, having a remote team is the one shining beacon that could make things a whole lot easier, and more companies are giving it a try.
Data from the Pew Research Center shows that about 35% of American workers with jobs that could be done remotely spend all of their working time at home. In fact, 79% of people who worked from home stated that their managers trusted them a great deal to get their work done.
If using a remote model can mean global scaling becomes easier, why not give it a try? With so much in the world changing, it’s time to consider more unconventional approaches to employment and working style. This is exactly what we’ll be focusing on in this article, so let’s jump right in.
How Does Remote Work Make Global Scaling Easy?
Firstly, hiring remotely allows you to hire from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a device and an internet connection. This is the biggest and most obvious way that remote work is helping startups. Employer of Record services (EOR) make managing workers incredibly easy, since the burden is not on your shoulders.
As Remote, a global HR and payroll platform, explains, these services ensure that aspects like onboarding, payment, and everything in the employee lifecycle are handled for you. With that major factor out of the way, you get to enjoy the productivity gains that come with remote workers.
One systematic review conducted in 2025 on remote and hybrid work found that small and medium-sized firms often enjoyed 25% higher productivity gains. Likewise, reduced sick days were another factor that was observed. These improvements were linked to reduced commute stress and the simple fact that more freedom allowed people to create their own work structure.
Secondly, as a startup, you want to keep expenses to a minimum, and remote work is simply more efficient at doing this. The cost of leasing out office space in other countries and all the paperwork that comes with it is just not worth it. Of course, these benefits also require you to go about scaling in a specific manner. Let’s find out how you can do that now.
Start Making Targeted Hires
Besides the cost savings you enjoy with hiring remotely, you now have access to a vastly expanded talent pool. You are no longer limited to hiring out of your local region, which means you can raise your standards and look for the best. According to Remote, when looking for elite global talent, you want to keep an eye out for candidates with a global mindset and great communication skills.
That said, where should you be looking to hire remotely from? Logic says that wherever the trend is booming. The World Economic Forum notes that there are five main countries seeing massive emphasis on hybrid or fully remote work. These include New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Unsurprisingly, the three sectors showing the fastest growth were computer & mechanical, business/finance, and legal. While there’s a wealth of great talent that you can recruit from in these countries, don’t expect it to be cheap. These are developed nations, so set your budget accordingly.
Ensure Remote Hiring Helps You Achieve Your Broader Scaling Goals
The entire reason you are hiring remote workers is to make scaling your startup on a global scale easier. You don’t want this to be just a talent acquisition strategy. Before hiring remotely, you need to first ask yourself a few questions. Is remote global talent supposed to reduce your operational costs? Likewise, is it supposed to open up new time zones for faster delivery of services?
There needs to be a clear reason for why you choose to hire remotely, and this shouldn’t include the cost savings factor. It’s also crucial that your scaling goals are naturally accompanied by thoughts about the future. Would you eventually want to have crewed branches in the countries you are targeting?
If so, perhaps factor it into your hiring process. This might mean letting hires know that, at present, it’s a remote role, but this could change in the future. At the same time, be aware that such decisions might affect hiring, as many people wouldn’t want to switch from remote to regular work, suddenly.
At the end of the day, a remote workforce can absolutely help you in your global scaling goals. Of course, it highly depends on your startup type. If you’re in the services industry, remote work will almost always be enough. Things get a little trickier if you deal in physical goods, and you may be forced to maintain a small presence of at least contract workers.
If there’s one piece of advice we’d suggest, it’s to set up a good structure for your remote team. The common mistake that founders make during remote scaling is keeping things too lean. It sounds great in theory, but you end up playing manager to everyone, which can quickly cause burnout. You’ve definitely saved some money by favoring the remote model, so use some of those funds to hire good supervisors and managers.
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