

Ask HN: Hiring remote and international  - steven2012

I&#x27;m looking to present a candidate for hire who is not only remote, but international.  We are a US-based, YC startup.<p>What are the HR roadblocks&#x2F;hurdles that I would face in trying to get this candidate hired?  The candidate does not want to move to the US.  Could this person be hired as a contractor internationally?  If we wanted to hire them full-time, permanent would that require setting up an entity in the country that they live in?
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phantom_oracle
>What are the HR roadblocks/hurdles that I would face in trying to get this
candidate hired?

Most of the roadblocks would be in the form of communication and getting
things done. However, if the person is capable of managing him/herself well
and they are productive at work, whether in an office or not, the work will
still get done.

>Could this person be hired as a contractor internationally?

That is what will be done. They will lose out on US-only benefits, but I've
seen SV/SF salaries, and if you're paying that much to a person in a third-
world country, they won't care for 401k or dental insurance. You should
consult a lawyer for the best way around this (maybe a tax benefit too).

>If we wanted to hire them full-time, permanent would that require setting up
an entity in the country that they live in?

Multinationals do this for tax and other benefits. You don't need to do this
(unless you are producing a tangible product and there is big demand in the
foreign market).

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bjelkeman-again
We have the majority of our s/w developer hired as contractors. They have
their own company, often a sole trader (one man company) in the country they
live in.

We treat everyone as equal as we are able to. Contractors or employees. The
way we define this: if you do the same job and have similar experience, the
cost to the organisation will be the same. Salary+taxes+benefits costs are the
same. This works quite well.

We have four s/w developers hired in the organization as employees. The other
dozen are hired as contractors, including me as CTO & co-director.

~~~
jonaswouters
It's easier when most of the employees are remote. If you've got an office
where most of the action happens, the remote employees might start feeling
like outsiders. I think that is one of the hardest things to overcome.

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keviv
I worked as a contractor/consultant for a US startup for 2 and a half years
before we had an Indian entity. Then I became a full-time employee. I don't
see any problems hiring people from other nationalities working as a
contractor but actually they are just like an employee.

