February 4th, 2025 | Joy Henry, Executive Vice President, Americas

Going Global? Background Checks’s Vital Role in Tech Hiring

Reading Time: approximately 6 minutes

With tech hiring increasing in fields such as software, cybersecurity, support, data, and infrastructure, it’s the right time for many tech companies to hire new talent in line with their desired hiring outcomes and cultural objectives. The North American tech sector has been booming, with 475,000 jobs created since 2019. Globally, demand for remote generative AI talent has increased 1,300% in just the past two years, spotlighting the need for specialist tech talent.

However, companies still face several pain points when considering going global with their hiring programs. These business challenges include:

• Fraud: “Insider” fraud threats are rising. The Ponemon Institute reports that insider threats have increased 67% since 2022, with remote work companies being most at risk. Worse, their 2023 Cost of Insider Risks: Global study found that 71% of companies now experience anywhere from 21-40 incidents each year.
• Consistency: Global tech businesses face significant logistical and communications challenges when attempting to streamline their candidate experience for candidates in different regions.
• Compliance: Regulations can vary drastically when companies hire across different regions. Tech employers seeking to build out their global program must therefore stay updated on regional laws and guidelines.
• Scaling: Finding organizational partners to help scale globally is vital, especially in times of fluctuating expansion and tech talent pools.

With these challenges in mind, let’s examine the most critical factors impacting global tech hiring. We’ll also outline effective ways your global tech business can scale up while helping to keep your hiring program fast, consistent, and supportive of compliance.

1. The Driving Forces Behind Global Expansion

Tech companies looking to hire globally are helped by many headwinds in the form of hiring trends, including:

• Talent Shortages in Established Markets: As companies in North America and Europe face talent shortages, they’re increasingly looking to regions like Asia-Pacific for skilled AI and tech professionals.
• Skyrocketing Demand for New Tech Skills: The need for remote generative AI talent has increased by 1,300%, reflecting the rapid adoption of AI technologies across industries.
• Access to Diverse Skill Sets: Expanding into new markets gives your technology business access to specialized talent pools that may not be available locally. To hire effectively in these more distant regions, your program can utilize global capabilities for background screening and digital identity verification.

2. Cross-border Hiring and the Rise of Remote Work

Remote work is more popular than ever among employees, and as a result, the modern workforce has gone global. Tech companies hiring today’s candidates can benefit from several growing trends:

• Today’s Teams Are Global: The rise in remote work allows tech companies to hire internationally without requiring physical relocation, broadening your reach to include talent from all over the world.
• Preference for Flexibility: Many tech professionals prefer remote roles, giving companies the flexibility to attract talent regardless of location. Naturally, this requires companies to adapt their HR practices to support diverse work cultures and broader legal requirements.
• Regional and Global Compliance: Compliance is critical to driving successful programs and making sure that employers feel confident that they’re obeying local laws and regulations when background screening. A good background screening program is going to evolve over time, and an ongoing partnership with a trusted screening vendor can be the ideal way to navigate regulatory challenges.

These trends are great opportunities for businesses seeking to hire the best of the world’s talent, but is it really so simple in practice to scale up your hiring program from national to global?

3. Challenges of Cross-border Background Checks

Like any hiring strategy, global talent acquisition has its own unique challenges. Let’s cover three of the most significant issues HR leaders face when opening their hiring to the global workforce.

• Legal and Cultural Differences in Screening: Different countries have varied regulations concerning background screening, from privacy laws to criminal checks, making it challenging to rely on a standardized approach. It’s essential to stay compliant with the latest hiring regulations. A value-added partner contributes regional expertise to help ensure compliance in every area you hire.
• Screening and customer support in local languages: Companies hiring international talent should make sure to communicate with candidates in a variety of languages. For example, our platform and technology are globally available, so global employers can use our application and select your candidate’s language of choice.
• Supporting a Cohesive Global Workforce: With each advancement in communications, our world continues to become smaller. Effective background screening also plays a role in fostering trust and cohesion within an international, multicultural workforce.

4. Importance of Comprehensive Screening to Maintain Trust and Security

Every technology employer must decide exactly how best to approach and mitigate the concept of fraud when hiring new employees, especially in today’s global remote-first workforce.

Global tech employers should keep these three trends top-of-mind when hiring:

• Safeguarding Company Reputation: Comprehensive screening helps maintain a company’s reputation by ensuring that international hires meet ethical and professional standards. Your technology business can also combine your regional hiring programs together into a more centralized approach so you can leverage economies of scale, including pricing and consistency of the candidate experience.
• Mitigating Risks in High-stakes Roles: In fields like AI development and data science, where sensitive information is handled, thorough screening can prevent costly mistakes, data breaches, and reputational harm.
• Fraud Risk in Remote Roles: Remote roles can carry unique risks, especially when access to sensitive data is involved. This risk makes background checks and digital identity verification essential for protecting intellectual property and corporate data. Services like global identity verification is invaluable for our tech clients verifying their candidates’ identities upfront in the hiring process.

How can your tech business help prevent fraud? Take an identity-first approach to hiring. Make sure you know exactly who you’re interviewing, who you’re hiring, and who you’re trusting with your organization’s credentials, equipment, and reputation.

We make it easy for candidates – no matter where they live – to prove who they are through our identity-first experience that strengthens screening results.

The Benefits of a Global Partnership

While adapting your hiring process to global candidates can take time and consideration, your tech company will feel the benefit every time you welcome a great fit to join your team. Make it easy for your candidates by ensuring your program is communicative, convenient, and supports compliance.

Partner with a global screening provider who is well-versed in helping organizations scale their hiring programs globally, provides a dedicated tech industry integration support team, creates consistent candidate experiences, meets global compliance standards, offers many ATS/HCM systems, and streamlines the process into a single platform.

Whether you’re hiring in several countries around the world, or in a single region with diverse compliance requirements, Sterling Backcheck can support your program and run background checks in over 240+ different countries and territories.

Click here to contact us about setting up a screening program for your tech company.

Hiring abroad? Learn more about our global services.

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