'Alive and diversifying': Remote hiring still strong amid RTO push

Remote hiring remains "alive" despite a growing number of organisations around the world mandating employees back to the workplace, according to the latest State of Global Hiring Report from Deel.

"Despite growing return-to-office (RTO) measures, distributed hiring continues to climb, expanding beyond technical roles to those like sales and content," the report said.

The hottest country for global hiring is the Philippines, overtaking the United States for the top spot in 2023.

"Workers in the Philippines and US were getting hired the most in 2023, with Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil rounding out the top five," said Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, on LinkedIn.

The report said the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States hired from the Philippines the fastest in 2023. Mexico, Canada, and Australia are the fastest hirers of employees in the United States.

"Global hiring is alive and diversifying worldwide," Bouaziz said.

Remote work for 2024

And according to the CEO, this global hiring trend would continue until 2024.

"Remote keeps gaining steam, despite naysayers; even domestically, companies will continue to hire the best talent, not talent for their office," he said.

Bouaziz then urged employers to "be open to different work models" despite divided discussions over remote, hybrid, and in-office work.

"RTO advocates are loud, but data is proving that remote work has sticking power," he said. "Whatever model you choose, think of continuance compliance. More ways and places to hire require staying on top of local policies."

Involuntary terminations down

Meanwhile, Deel's report also found that involuntary terminations were 52% down in November 2023, compared to January 2023. Industries with the biggest lift in involuntary terminations include:

• Consumer Electronics
• Pharmaceuticals
• Information Technology

Industries that had the greatest slowdown in involuntary terminations include:

• Banking
• Design
• Management Consulting

The findings come amid widespread layoffs over the past year across various organisations due to economic uncertainty.

"Globally, involuntary terminations spiked in January, but we saw 52% fewer terminations in November 2023 compared to January 2023," the report said.

Bouaziz advised employers to closely monitor their organisation's sizes and growth. 

"Build teams that can push company-critical goals to avoid terminations this year," he said.

Deel's State of Global Hiring Report 2023 aggregated data from the organisations over 300,000 contracts and more than 20,000 customers across over 160 countries.