Atlas HXM says Europe is easy for visas but hard to hire in

Atlas HXM’s new Global Workforce Indexes find weak overlap between work visa access and hiring conditions across 130-plus countries. The data show Europe ranks high on visa mobility, but many of its countries are still difficult or costly places to employ workers directly or use contractors.

Why it matters: - Atlas HXM’s new workforce data suggests employers cannot assume a country that is easy for visas will also be easy for hiring or contractor use. - The split matters for HR and mobility teams because visa approval, employment law and contractor risk can each derail a cross-border move on different timelines. - The indexes show a weak correlation of 0.32 between hiring conditions and visa access across countries scored on both. - The United States illustrates the gap, ranking in the top five for hiring destinations but 100th of 136 on visa mobility.

What happened: - Atlas HXM launched its Global Workforce Indexes, a set of three country rankings covering hiring conditions, work visa access and contractor compliance. - The indexes score more than 130 countries and territories. - Europe stands out on visa access, with 12 of the top 25 countries on the Visa Mobility Index in the EU and four more in non-EU European countries. - Denmark and Finland lead the Visa Mobility Index, and France is also in the top ten. - For U.S. employers relocating existing employees, much of Europe offers more accessible and predictable visa routes than Canada or Australia, which are top-ten hiring destinations but sit in the bottom half of the visa mobility ranking.

The details: - The Visa Mobility Index measures how open work visa routes are to people from outside a country; within the EU, that means access for non-EU nationals. - Hungary, Lithuania and Greece rank well below nearby European peers on visa accessibility, even though their approval probability is similar to the regional average. - Hungary’s approval probability score is 7.9, Lithuania’s is 7.5 and Greece’s is 7.3, versus a European average of 7.03. - Their visa accessibility scores are 2.3, 2.4 and 4.4, versus a European average of 6.23. - Atlas HXM says that shows a country can have a straightforward work permit and still be difficult to navigate because of documentation, process steps and elapsed time. - On hiring, Europe’s edge is weaker than its visa profile suggests. - France sits in the top ten for visa mobility but in the bottom third of the Hiring Destination Index. - France’s employment-law environment is a key drag, and labor market regulations alone place France among the lowest-scoring countries in the hiring index. - Spain ranks in the top 25 for visa mobility but in the bottom 10% of the Contractor Compliance Index. - That makes Spain one of the more difficult places to draw a defensible line between an independent contractor and an employee. - Of the countries scored on all three indexes, only nine are in the top quartile of each: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Denmark, Finland, Taiwan, Mauritius, Bahrain and Albania. - None of those nine tops all three indexes. - Atlas HXM’s three indexes are scored from 0 to 10 across four weighted pillars, with higher scores always better. - The Hiring Destination Index covers 107 countries and measures how straightforward it is to employ people directly, what employment costs and how stable the operating environment is. - The Visa Mobility Index covers 136 countries and measures how readily a company can move foreign talent into a country and keep them lawfully employed there. - The Contractor Compliance Index covers 138 countries and measures how clearly a country separates contractors from employees and the exposure if that line is crossed. - The indexes combine Atlas HXM operational data with public sources including the World Bank, the OECD, the International Labour Organization, the European Commission, the IMF and national government sources. - Scores are absolute rather than relative, so one country’s score does not change when another country is added or removed. - Atlas HXM refreshes the indexes quarterly and publishes a change log and full methodology.

Between the lines: - The data points to a common enterprise mistake: treating immigration, employment and contractor classification as one problem instead of three. - Countries can look attractive for one kind of workforce decision while creating friction on another. - The strongest markets appear to be the ones without a severe weakness, not the ones that dominate every category.

What's next: - Atlas HXM will continue updating the indexes quarterly. - Employers are likely to use the rankings to screen countries earlier in the relocation, hiring and contractor planning process. - More detailed methodology and current scores are available through Atlas HXM’s published index materials and the company’s social channels.