Even in normal times, the hiring and managing of a fluid European workforce
presents numerous challenges for the HR professional, including languages,
local laws, taxes and benefits.
With Brexit and the ambiguity surrounding it, HR can expect a proliferation of
new regulations—and the creation of entirely new sets of unknowns.
For employers: an exit into the unknown
When radical changes are effected with regards to an entity as large and
complex as the EU, the unknowns in relation to business growth and challenges
for HR professionals will be substantial.
For example, the UK government anticipates Brexit will result in job
protection. What does this mean? Skilled? Non-skilled? What about jobs
traditionally hard to fill from within one’s own country? How jobs are
protected will have an enormous impact on hiring practices for companies
within, and outside of, the UK.
What about the supply of highly skilled talent? As competition increases in a
tighter market for these workers, HR can expect recruiting to be more
difficult, more expensive.
A new age of uncertainty for employees
The impacts of Brexit on employees are important and far-ranging. Work visas
will be more difficult for employees to attain. Current residents will have to
prove the ability to stay and work in the U.K., while movement of the family
members of these workers will be restricted. Will U.K. employees seeking
employment in EU countries be rejected?
The function of HR: A constant in a sea of change
Fortunately, there is a constant in the challenges outlined above: HR. Brexit
or not, employees still need to be recruited, hired, trained and paid. No
matter how it plays out, there are ways for your company to remain flexible,
responsive, compliant and therefore more successful than your competition.
Post-Brexit success begins with managing complexity
Post-Brexit changes will be big and they will be messy. And while no HR
professional can be completely prepared for these complexities, adhering to a
few tips is a good place to start:
Tip #1: Embrace change
- Brexit and the HR challenges it brings will happen. New laws will be instituted. New ways of doing business amongst EU and UK countries will be created. The earlier HR professionals accept this, the quicker they can focus on how to best take advantage.
Tip #2: Stand behind the changes
- Economies are a powerful, ever-evolving force. Brexit is simply the latest market move. Understanding this iteration, and creating functions within your company to exploit it will be key to growth.
Tip #3: Build in redundancy
- You may assume you and the HR strategies you developed pre-Brexit will also serve you well in this new era. But in times of great change, building redundancy through partners and experts best equipped to help deal with change will help you react efficiently and compliantly.
With GEO, Brexit is opportunity
As Brexit unfolds, few really know what its immediate implications are for
workforce deployment, and how best to comply with the changes in laws that
will occur.
Safeguard Global is tailor made for the post-Brexit labor market. As your
local employer of record, we monitor and decipher complex labor law changes
that will occur, ensuring your compliance with them for continued success in
these highly uncertain times.
To learn more about how GEO from Safeguard Global can help your organization be prepared
for Brexit, contact us today.
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