Over the past five decades, the way companies employ people across borders has changed dramatically. Not because of a trend, or technology alone, but because global business created new demands that existing employment models couldn’t meet.
This article traces how those demands led to the emergence of new employment solutions, and how the Employer of Record (EOR) model evolved into what many organisations now rely on to scale, comply, and compete globally.
Whether you’re leading HR, legal, or mobility strategy, this history offers more than context. It helps explain what makes the current Global EOR landscape so fragmented, and what to look for as the market matures.
1960s–1990s: From Domestic Outsourcing to Employer Responsibility
Global employment began with a simpler idea: shift tasks, not legal responsibilities. In the 1960s, temporary staffing and labour outsourcing models grew across the US and Europe, offering companies short-term capacity without long-term contracts.
By the 1980s, the Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) emerged, primarily in the United States. PEOs introduced co-employment: a model where employer responsibilities (payroll, employee benefits, tax management) were shared between the client and provider. It worked domestically, but wasn’t exportable. The model was bound by US-specific legal frameworks.
The idea of outsourcing employment administration had taken hold, but it couldn’t yet cross borders.
1990s–2000s: The First Global Challenges
As companies expanded internationally, they ran into a problem: how do you legally employ someone in a country where you don’t have a legal entity?
Local firms — often legal or payroll specialists — began offering a solution: they would act as the legal employer on the client’s behalf. The client retained day-to-day control, but the provider handled compliance, payroll, and risk.
This was the foundation of the talent engagement model now called Employer of Record (EOR).
Early Employer of Recor (EOR) use cases included:
- Converting contractors to employees to reduce misclassification risk
- Testing new markets before setting up an entity
- Hiring locally where speed or headcount limits made incorporation impractical
But the model was still country-by-country, not global.
2010s: Global Expansion Creates a New Expectation
By the 2010s, the world of work had changed. Distributed teams, cross-border projects, and remote-first teams became the norm, especially in fast-scaling sectors like tech and digital services.
Clients didn’t just want employment support in one country, they wanted it in ten. They expected faster turnaround, standardisation, and a single point of contact.
Some providers began coordinating EOR delivery across multiple countries using networks of in-country partners. This wasn’t yet a seamless experience, but it created a new category: Global EOR.
The focus expanded from just compliant hiring to:
- Understanding multi-country employment risks
- Managing legal employer relationships across jurisdictions
- Meeting the needs of HR, finance, legal, and operations teams simultaneously.
2018–2019: The Platform Wave and US-Centric Framing
Most of the prominent tech-first Global PEO/EOR platforms that shaped the 2018–2020 market wave — Deel, Remote, Papaya Global, and G-P (Globalization Partners) — were either founded, headquartered, or primarily funded in the United States, and positioned themselves using terminology and legal framings tailored for a US employer audience.
- Deel: Founded in the US; YC-backed, with a US startup and SMB focus.
- Remote: Headquartered in San Francisco, though structured as a globally distributed company.
- Papaya Global: Founded in Israel, but strongly oriented toward US VC backing and market entry.
- G-P: Founded and headquartered in the US; one of the earliest to use “Global PEO” branding.
These companies weren’t exclusively American in origin, but the dominant funding, messaging, and buyer targeting was unmistakably US-centric. Their early communication focused on:
- “Hire in 100+ countries without an entity”
- Use of “Global PEO” — a familiar term for US HR and legal teams
- Compliance positioning aimed at US-based buyers, not multi-country general counsel (GCs) or international tax counsel.
At this stage, the term “Global Employer of Record” was still forming. The global employment platform model brought global hiring into the spotlight, but it also prompted more sophisticated buyers to ask deeper questions as the framework that prioritised accessibility and speed over lifecycle control or legal clarity.
What was evolving, however, was the realisation among more experienced employers that global employment involved more than onboarding. It required clarity around legal liability, immigration pathways, role-specific contract terms, and how each partner operated on the ground.
COVID-19 and the Acceleration of Global EOR
The COVID-19 pandemic did more than disrupt business operations, it permanently changed how companies think about employment infrastructure and business risks.
As borders closed and offices emptied, businesses faced an urgent challenge: how to keep teams operational, onboard critical hires, and retain talent abroad without relying on physical presence or local incorporation.
The COVID-19 pandemic created urgent operational challenges for companies with international teams — and accelerated the adoption of the EOR model worldwide.
Hiring across borders became a necessity. Businesses that previously relied on offices, local branches, or travel-based coordination were suddenly managing remote-first teams in multiple jurisdictions, many without legal presence.
During this period:
- EOR moved from a specialist solution to a mainstream hiring method
- Companies turned to EOR for business continuity, not long-term workforce strategy
- SMBs and large enterprises alike needed fast, compliant onboarding in countries where they lacked entities
- Demand increased for employment models that could support immigration, taxation, and local benefits.
- The term “Global Employer of Record” gained broader visibility, although usage and understanding varied
The pandemic exposed operational gaps in global hiring and highlighted the need for clearer employment risk management. It also introduced EOR to a broader audience of HR, finance, and legal teams who had not previously considered it.
This phase didn’t just expand the market, it reshaped how Global Employer of Record (EOR) was perceived: not as an alternative, but as an essential part of global workforce resilience.
Global EOR moved from a niche solution to a mainstream option, not because of trend, but necessity.
During this period:
- Companies hired in countries where they had no legal footprint;
- Distributed teams became standard, not experimental;
- The risk of misclassification, permanent establishment, and immigration non-compliance became board-level concerns.
This was also the moment where many first encountered Global EOR through platform interfaces. The value proposition was speed, but the emerging need was deeper:
- Legal empoyer liability
- Compliant terminations
- Employee benefits alignment
- Immigration pathways
all became expected parts of the conversation.
For many, this period revealed that employee onboarding was just the beginning, and not all providers were equipped to manage what came next.
Understanding the Difference: PEO vs. EOR
As global employment models evolved, the distinction between Professional Employer Organisation (PEO) and Employer of Record (EOR) became more important, especially for companies operating across borders.
While both models help companies manage employment obligations, they differ fundamentally in structure, scope, and legal accountability.
In global expansion, the EOR model emerged as the more adaptable solution. It allows companies to engage workers in countries where they have no legal entity, while the Global EOR assumes full employer liability across jurisdictions.
By contrast, the PEO model, rooted in US co-employment law, is typically limited to domestic arrangements where the client already operates a legal entity.
Here’s a high-level comparison:
| Feature | PEO (US Model) | Global Employer of Record |
| Legal Employer | Shared (co-employment) | Global EOR assumes full legal employer status |
| Entity Required | Yes, client must have a local entity | No, client does not need aclocal entity |
| Tax Reporting | Under client’s tax ID (e.g., EIN) | Under EOR’s in-country legal entity |
| Liability for Compliance | Shared, often retained by client | Assumed entirely by EOR |
| Geographic Scope | Domestic (primarily US) | Global, across multiple jurisdictions |
| Common Use Cases | HR outsourcing for US-based teams | International hiring without incorporation |
| Control Over Employment | Shared — HR, payroll, and risk split | Client manages work; EOR holds legal and compliance control |
| Immigration Support | Not applicable | Global EOR providers support work permit sponsorship and help secure employment-based visas. |
2023–2025: Global EOR Customer Maturity and Market Realignment
Following the post-COVID surge, the Global Employer of Record (EOR) market entered a period of increased clarity and refinement. By 2023, many companies had already used Global EOR services, either through platforms, partner networks, or full-service providers. Their expectations were no longer shaped by novelty or urgency, but by experience.
This phase was defined by growing buyer maturity:
- Clients became more familiar with the core mechanics of EOR;
- Questions shifted from “can you hire in X country?” to “how is the employment legally structured?”;
- There was increased scrutiny around legal risk ownership, in-country partner arrangements, and compliance liability.
Client organisations began to differentiate between providers that simply facilitated onboarding, and those that could support a broader set of employment scenarios, including executive hires, regulated roles, immigration pathways, and long-term workforce planning.
This wasn’t a formal reclassification, but the market naturally began to distinguish between providers based on delivery depth, operational transparency, and the ability to manage employment beyond Day 1.
For many companies, 2023–2025 marked a transition from learning what Global EOR talent engagement model was to deciding what kind of Global EOR delivery model was right for their needs.
2025 and Beyond: Strategic Workforce Infrastructure and Informed Demand
As the EOR model enters its next phase, the global employment landscape is shaped less by acceleration — and more by alignment.
By 2025, many organisations no longer adopt EOR reactively. They integrate it into long-term workforce planning, compliance management, and international mobility strategy. The model has evolved into an operational layer — used not only to expand into new markets, but to manage risk, retain key talent, and maintain flexibility in uncertain jurisdictions.
This shift is backed by measurable growth. According to NelsonHall (2024), the global EOR market reached $2.05B in 2023 and is forecast to reach $5.94B by 2028, at a compound annual growth rate of 23.2%. But as adoption widens, client expectations deepen.
Key trends defining the future of EOR include:
- Greater demand for visibility into how employmentsolution are delivered, not just where.
- Increased requests involving immigration, equity, regulated functions, and exit terms across jurisdictions.
- Scrutiny of in-country partner structures and legal risk ownership.
- Pressure on providers to offer not just onboarding, but employment continuity and control across jurisdictions.
In this next phase, Global EMployer of Record (EOR) is not a tool to avoid complexity, it’s a mechanism to manage it. For organisations operating across multiple markets, it becomes part of how global employment is executed with the same level of planning and accountability as internal legal, finance, or HR functions.
Acumen’s Contribution to Global Employment Practice
The global employment landscape is broad, fragmented, regulatory-heavy, and risk-sensitive. At Acumen International, we’ve spent over two decades navigating the realities of global employment market not through automation alone, but through legally sound, operationally deliverable solutions and direct experience across 190+ jurisdictions.
Clients come to us when they need employment solutions to complex and unique needs across multiple countries. We’ve worked with companies confronting the kinds of employment questions this article explores:
- How to engage senior or mobile workers in complex legal environments
- How to combine immigration sponsorship with compliant onboarding
- How to hire in emerging or under-served jurisdictions where platforms don’t operate
- How to manage employment without local entity presence — and with clarity on legal risk
Our Global EOR solution supports clients with:
- Role-specific onboarding across multiple jurisdictions;
- Visa sponsorship and mobility integration where required;
- Tailored employment contracts aligned with local law and internal policies;
- Lifecycle support from onboarding to exit, including benefits, tax, and compliance assurance;
We also support planning and risk review through two core tools:
- Global Payroll Calculator
A tool used by clients and partners to assess the total cost of employment across 190+ countries. It accounts for gross-to-net calculations, statutory contributions, employer liabilities, and optional benefits, accounting for by expat/local talent, country, currency, and employment type. It is used to scope projects, validate budgets, and align expectations before hiring decisions are made. - Global Compliance Guide
A comprehensive global hiring compliance resource developed for use by clients, internal teams, and legal advisors. It contains country-specific detail on employment law, termination requirements, mandatory and customary benefits, notice periods, and regulatory constraints, especially relevant in high-risk or highly regulated jurisdictions.
These tools are built into how we help clients assess feasibility, structure roles, and mitigate exposure before engaging workers across borders.