Making global hiring feel local
Dan Westgarth, COO of Deel, on the global payroll opportunity
The key insight is that Deel turned an informal, legally fragile workaround into software that felt as easy as domestic payroll. Before modern global payroll tools, startups often paid overseas workers through bank wires, PayPal, Wise, or spreadsheets, with founders handling contracts, tax forms, and records themselves. Deel’s wedge was to wrap payments, contracts, onboarding, and compliance steps into one repeatable workflow, so companies could hire international contractors quickly without setting up a local entity first.
-
The old alternative for larger companies was much heavier. They would form a local subsidiary, open bank accounts, hire local lawyers and accountants, and create a real in country employer presence before hiring at scale. Deel let companies delay that step until they had enough headcount to justify it.
-
What changed in practice was not just payment speed, but workflow. The platform collected W8 or W9 style tax forms, stored contracts, handled invoices, and gave contractors a payroll like portal instead of one off wires and manual record keeping in spreadsheets.
-
This created a new middle ground between freelancer marketplaces like Upwork and full employer of record services. Companies could treat global talent as part of the core team from day one, then move to EOR or local entities later when compliance needs or scale made that necessary.
Going forward, the market keeps moving toward one system that manages domestic employees, international employees, and contractors together. That means the early contractor payments wedge expands into a broader fight over who owns the full payroll and HR stack, and the winning products will be the ones that make global hiring feel no more complex than adding a local employee.