Topia, the leader in Global Talent Mobility, launched an industry-first remote work solution that enables organizations to support and manage distributed workforces around the world. Topia’s Remote Work Solution automates immigration, tax, social security and other risk assessments and approval workflows so HR can say “yes” to employee remote work requests without commissioning expensive, manual reviews or being drowned in administrative burden.

Following the normalization of remote work during the pandemic, work location flexibility continues to be popular with employees, but poses risks for unprepared employers. A 2022 McKinsey survey finds 58% of Americans can work remotely at least part of the time, and 87% of workers given that opportunity embrace it. Globally, 45% of CIOs report that at least part of their workforce continues to be remote. However, surveys conducted by Topia find that approximately a third of employees admit to working remotely outside their home state or country, and only a third of those employees report all the days to HR.

“Talented people want the freedom to live and work where they choose – even if only for a few weeks per year – and companies that want to attract and retain the best talent know they need to provide this flexibility to remain competitive,” said Chantel Rowe, VP of Product, Topia. “That is why we’ve designed our solution to make it easier for HR and executive teams to say yes to remote work requests within the scope of their remote work culture. Employees can use our solution to quickly get a sense of where they can and can’t work remotely before making a request. And to support the teams dealing with these requests, we’ve automated the most time-consuming and expensive aspects of remote work compliance, while delivering an approval process that is inviting and empowering for employees. We know this combination will make our clients more competitive in the talent market.”

A leading fintech company has begun using Topia’s Remote Work Solution to attract and retain top talent while minimizing the costs of compliance. In just the first three days of using Topia’s Remote Work Solution, more than 80% of its employees’ remote work requests were auto-approved using Topia’s automated immigration checks and workflow engine validations, saving the team at least eight hours in manual work.

“Flexible working is a priority for HR teams looking to attract and retain the best talent and drive employee engagement,” said David Perring, Director of Research, Fosway Group. “Fosway research shows that for 90% of HR teams, flexible working is also an important part of future proofing the organization. With its new Remote Work Solution, Topia has focused its technology on supporting remote and flexible working at scale and across borders.”

Officially teased in December 2021, Topia’s Remote Work Solution has undergone significant upgrades. In August 2022, Topia acquired Pearl Global Tech and its immigration assessment engine Permiso, which runs pre-travel assessments for remote work and other types of mobility.

Topia’s Remote Work Solution can support all types of remote work arrangements: work from home, hybrid work, cross-border commuting, “bleisure” trips, temporary relocations and permanent relocations, to name a few. The process is straightforward and highly automated:

• Employees explore a list of pre-approved locations where they can work remotely, in line with company policy and their ‘approach’ to remote work
• They submit a request through an online portal – no spreadsheets and emailing necessary
• Topia automatically assesses the request against company policy and key tax, immigration and other risks
• Pre-configured workflows automate key steps, gather approvals, generate letters and initiate services
• Alerts and dashboards confirm where employees are working while respecting their privacy

“HR teams are under pressure to show value and impact across skills and talent mobility,” said Perring. “Topia’s focus on transforming the remote working experience across borders aims to help HR teams to become the enabler of talent mobility and promote real choice about remote and flexible working, regionally and internationally.”

Rowe recently introduced and demoed Topia’s Remote Work Solution during a webinar. To learn more, you can watch the webinar on demand at https://www.topia.com/resources/remote_work_webinar/.

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