Horizons Review: Is This The Right International Hiring Solution for You?

In 2022, organizations will continue to face unprecedented hiring challenges. Not least because the pandemic has changed how we work. For instance, many businesses now operate on a hybrid basis. I.e., employees' time is split between the office and home. On top of that, unemployment has fallen to a record low of 3.6% in the US. As a result, many businesses have struggled to fill vacancies during the year's first quarter. In fact, as many as 80% of organizations say that thanks to the ongoing skills shortage, they're having difficulties filling openings. 

Businesses can respond to these hiring challenges by widening their net to include global candidates. With remote work becoming increasingly accessible globally, more and more companies are looking to recruit overseas talent.

However, the prospect of hiring globally comes with its own unique set of challenges. For example, benefits, payroll, and tax compliance can differ when you hire internationally. 

This is where Horizons comes in. Horizons is a solution specifically designed for global workforces looking to streamline the hiring, onboarding, and paying process. 

So, with that said, in this Horizons review, we'll look at everything this software has to offer, including where its strengths and weaknesses lie.

There's lots to cover, so let's dive in!

Horizons Review- About Horizons

As mentioned in the intro, Horizons is a global hiring solution that helps you engage professionals from over 150 countries and regions, including:

• The UK
• China
• Singapore
• Germany
• Japan
• India

…and many more.

The hiring process can be as quick as 48 hours! With the help of Horizons, you don't have to set up as legal entities in these regions, enabling you to comply with payment, benefits, and tax laws and save money on hiring costs.

At the time of writing, Horizons is the only Global PEO with an in-house international recruitment team. Its in-house recruitment team searches various local regions based on your requirements, facilitating an end-to-end recruitment process. This means you can use Horizons to source, hire, and onboard your overseas workers. Then for as long as these hires work for you, Horizons can also take over your payroll and employer compliance duties.

Horizons Review – Pros and Cons

Before we wrap up, we’ve summarized some of Horizon’s most notable pros and cons:

Horizons Review – Key Features and Services

As a Global PEO, there are several functions Horizons performs for you. Below we've listed their key services:

Global PEO and Employer of Record

As we've already said, global PEO provides employee management services, such as hiring, onboarding, payroll, and benefits. In addition, Horizons acts as the employer of record, which means you don’t need to establish a new legal entity in any of the 150 countries you can hire from. Yet, you still maintain day-to-day control over your employees (with the help of Horizon’s ongoing support).

Typically, establishing a foreign entity takes weeks or months. But, with Horizons, you can start hiring within 48 hours and establish a global team. 

Hire International Contractors

Hiring international contractors through Horizons removes much of the hassle and compliance concerns that typically come with such an arrangement. 

Horizons will:

• Provide health insurance options to contractors and/or employees affiliated with Horizons at a low monthly cost
• Enable you to pay all global contractors through Horizon with just one monthly invoice
• Set up legal and compliance contracts for you, and check the credibility of the contractor

The Horizons Platform

Horizons' software platform is based in the cloud. From which you can manage your global Horizons workforce, including:

• Onboarding and offboarding
• View a list of active employees that includes job titles, start dates, and their location 
• You can manage employee expenses (which you can review and approve)
• You can handle payroll 
• Access documents and files associated with your employees
• Oversee relevant activities and tasks, like new employees to onboard, invoices due, new expense requests, etc
• Manage paid and unpaid leave requests

At this point, it's also worth noting that Horizons' platform is GDPR compliant and offers flexible payroll management for both contractual and non-contractual workers. You can also arrange one-time payments and add bonuses to monthly payroll agreements whenever you wish. Plus, you can view detailed monthly payroll breakdowns. 

Horizons Health

Horizons offers global health insurance, covering over 180 countries. Standard coverage starts at $80 per employee per month. In contrast, premium coverage costs $125 per month. As a result, you're empowered to offer global hires an attractive benefits package with either option. Plus, these standardized prices apply to all your international employees, making it much easier to budget. 

The health plans come with 24/7 premium customer service and enable all beneficiaries to get treatment near-on anywhere they live or travel.

International Payroll

As previously discussed, when you hire a contractor or employee through Horizons, the global PEO will process their salary payments for you. This includes ensuring local compliance surrounding the payment of international employees/contractors, paying employees on time, and converting payments into local currency.

Here’s how it works:

1. You’ll discuss your payroll strategy with Horizons to find the right approach for your company.
2. You both sign an engagement contract.
3. Horizons gets the ball rolling with your agreed-upon payroll solutions for each employee. This includes gathering personal information, tax numbers, and payment methods.
4. Horizons regularly distributes payroll, as per an agreed schedule, accounting for social contributions and taxes.
5. Horizons maintains communication with authorities, which includes submitting reports and making declarations to each relevant country's tax and employment authorities, as required.
6. Horizons winds down payroll for employees that are no longer with you.

International Recruitment

Horizons also offers fully customized talent acquisition to help you expand your global team. In-country experts with an understanding of the local market conditions across your industry will assess elite candidates from your preferred hiring locations.

Before recruitment takes place, Horizons will work with you to create an appropriate candidate profile, where you can specify exactly what you're looking for in your next hire. For instance, you might have specific requirements concerning industry experience, qualifications, professional attributes, etc.

To hit the ground running with Horizons international talent acquisition service, you can request a hiring proposal on their website.

Horizons Review – Pricing

Its pricing is refreshingly straightforward despite the complexity of what Horizons handles for your business. 

Here's how it works: You pay Horizons a monthly cost per employee.

If you're looking to hire a contractor, the cost starts from $9 per month. 

For this, Horizons:

• Hires a contractor from one of over 150 countries
• Runs a misclassification risk assessment
• Signs the freelancer contract and verifies all legal documents through its legal team for compliance
• Pays your global contractor monthly, handles payment-related compliance, and distributes funds in the contractor’s local currency.
• Provides access to Horizon’s secure HR platform, from which you can manage your contractors

In contrast, if you're looking to hire permanent employees, Pricing starts from $290 per employee, per month. There are also annual payment options which substantially reduce the average cost per employee

This fee includes all of the services listed above, as well as:

• Detailed onboarding assistance, automated document generation (such as local, compliant contracts), and expenses and leave management
• Access to affordable benefits packages for your employees, including healthcare, retirement, office space rental, etc. 
• You can add bonus pay directly from the Horizons platform to reward high-performing employees.

There’s also an Enterprise plan that offers custom solutions. This is intended for larger companies opening new entities in other locations or recruiting from unfamiliar markets. 

Horizons also offer a range of add-on services. Here’s a quick overview:

• You can add international employee insurance from $80 per month.
• Get support with visa and residency applications. Rates for this depend on where you and your employees are based.
• Horizons can source your global team for you based on your hiring requirements. Again, rates depend on your hiring location.

As prices for both add-ons and payment packages depend partly on your chosen hiring location, it’s a good idea to get in touch with Horizons for a precise quote.

Horizons Review – Support and Resources

When you partner with Horizons, everything starts with a conversation with the team, where they’ll walk you through their process and discuss your needs. 

After that, you’ll receive dedicated in-country HR support and a single point of contact, which means you’ll deal with the same trustworthy person each time. If issues arise with a member of staff managed by Horizons, the provider also offers reliable conflict resolution to help enable you to operate at total capacity. 

However, you can only log support requests via tickets and email, and the company employs a custom prioritization system to handle more vital requests quicker. Here, Horizons offers a resolution time of 24-48 hours for requests categorized as normal. However, for urgent requests, they provide a 24-hour resolution time.

But, suppose instead, you just want to learn more about their services or have questions about a specific part of the process. In that case, Horizons also provides a detailed online help center. Here, you can browse general questions, how-to articles, and video walk-throughs about their services. You can also request a consultation and demo before committing to any partnership.

Horizons Review – Our Final Verdict

If your company wants to expand its workforce into the global market, Horizons may be a good option. With its Employer of Record, you don’t have to establish yourself as a new legal entity abroad and can start hiring immediately. On top of this, Horizons takes care of many of the hassles and risks that usually come with hiring talent abroad. Plus, you also benefit from their connections and discounts, enabling you to offer better benefits to your international employees.

All in all, we recommend getting in touch for a conversation about their exact pricing. It might also be worth scheduling a demo of their services to get a better feel of their interface. But, when it comes down to it, only you know whether you feel comfortable handing over the reins of your international HR to a third party. 

Are you considering Horizons? If so, tell us why in the comments box below. Speak soon!