Atlas HXM has launched three global workforce indexes assessing hiring conditions, work visa accessibility and contractor compliance across more than 130 countries and territories. Initial findings show that countries offering relatively accessible immigration routes may still present significant employment costs, regulatory complexity or contractor-classification risks. For HR leaders and global mobility teams, the findings highlight why workforce expansion decisions require separate assessments of immigration, employment and engagement rules.
Three Indexes Examine the Complexity of Global Hiring
International workforce planning involves more than determining whether a candidate can legally enter a country. Employers must also assess how quickly they can secure work authorization, the cost and complexity of employing someone locally, and whether an engagement qualifies as independent contracting or employment.
Atlas HXM, a global workforce platform focused on compliance, developed its Global Workforce Indexes to assess these separate dimensions. The three measures are the Atlas HXM Hiring Destination Index (AHDI), Atlas HXM Visa Mobility Index (AVMI) and Atlas HXM Contractor Compliance Index (ACCI).
The initial findings show a weak correlation of 0.32 between hiring and visa scores across countries assessed on both measures. That suggests that a favorable position on immigration accessibility does not necessarily translate into a favorable environment for employing workers.
The United States illustrates the difference. According to Atlas HXM, it ranks among the top five hiring destinations but stands 100th out of 136 countries on visa mobility.
Europe Scores Well on Visa Mobility but Not Hiring
European countries feature prominently in the Visa Mobility Index. Twelve of the top 25 countries are European Union members, while four more are non-EU European neighbors. Denmark and Finland lead the index, and France also ranks among the top ten.
The measure assesses work visa routes available to people from outside a country. Within the EU, this means examining access for non-EU nationals rather than movement rights available to EU citizens under the bloc’s free-movement framework.
However, accessible visa routes do not eliminate the operational challenges of hiring. Canada and Australia, for example, rank among the top ten hiring destinations while sitting in the bottom half of the visa mobility index, according to Atlas HXM.
The results also reveal differences within Europe. Hungary, Lithuania and Greece receive approval-probability scores of 7.9, 7.5 and 7.3, respectively, compared with the reported European average of 7.03. Yet their visa-accessibility scores are substantially lower: 2.3 for Hungary, 2.4 for Lithuania and 4.4 for Greece, against a European average of 6.23.
The distinction is important because approval probability and procedural accessibility measure different risks. An application may have a strong likelihood of approval but still require extensive documentation, multiple steps or a longer processing period. Employers that assess only the probability of refusal may underestimate the time required to bring an employee into a role.
Employment Rules Create a Separate Set of Challenges
France demonstrates how immigration accessibility can coexist with a less favorable employment environment. Although it ranks in the top ten for visa mobility, Atlas HXM places it in the bottom third of the Hiring Destination Index. The company identifies labor-market regulation as a major factor affecting France’s score.
For multinational employers, these differences can influence workforce budgets, employment contracts, hiring timelines and ongoing people management. A location that makes it relatively straightforward to secure a work visa may still impose employment-law obligations that require additional planning.
Contractor classification introduces another layer of risk. Atlas HXM identifies Spain as a particularly clear example: the country ranks in the top 25 for visa mobility but in the bottom 10% of the Contractor Compliance Index.
That combination illustrates why immigration approval should not be treated as confirmation that a proposed working arrangement is compliant. Whether someone can enter and work in a country is a different question from whether the individual can lawfully operate as an independent contractor rather than an employee.
Few Countries Perform Consistently Across All Three Measures
Among countries assessed across all three indexes, only nine fall within the top quartile of every measure: Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Denmark, Finland, Taiwan, Mauritius, Bahrain and Albania.
Atlas HXM says none of these jurisdictions leads all three indexes. Instead, their distinguishing characteristic is a lack of severe weaknesses across hiring, visa access and contractor compliance.
Rebecca Croucher, chief growth officer at Atlas HXM, said employers can make mistakes when they assume that resolving immigration requirements settles the broader compliance question. The company positions its indexes as a way to assess these issues before an offer is made.
Implications for HR and Global Mobility Teams
The indexes offer HR leaders a framework for comparing international hiring destinations across separate dimensions rather than relying on a single country ranking. In practice, employers can use this approach to evaluate visa processing requirements, local employment obligations and contractor classification before committing to a location or engagement model.
However, rankings should be treated as a starting point rather than a substitute for country-specific legal advice. Individual outcomes depend on worker nationality, role, visa category, contractual arrangement and changing local rules. Atlas HXM’s findings provide a comparative framework; employers will still need to validate the requirements that apply to each proposed hire.
Market Landscape
Global workforce management is increasingly shaped by cross-border hiring, immigration processes and differing employment regulations. Atlas HXM’s three-index approach separates visa accessibility from hiring conditions and contractor compliance, highlighting why multinational workforce planning needs multiple assessments rather than a single country ranking.
Top Insights
- Three dimensions of workforce risk: Atlas HXM separately evaluates hiring conditions, visa mobility and contractor compliance across more than 130 countries and territories.
- Visa access is not hiring ease: The reported 0.32 correlation between hiring and visa scores indicates that the two measures often diverge.
- European performance varies: Several European countries score strongly on visa mobility but differ substantially in process accessibility and employment conditions.
- Contractor classification matters: Spain’s reported rankings illustrate how accessible immigration routes can coexist with significant contractor-compliance challenges.
- Planning must precede offers: Employers should evaluate immigration, employment and engagement requirements before confirming hiring timelines and contractual arrangements.
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