Demand for foreign employees continues to grow in Latvia - HR company

RIGA - Demand for foreign employees continues to grow in Latvia, Liina Laas, Deel HR company's head of expansion for Eastern and Central Europe, told LETA. 

According to the Deel representative, the number of Latvian companies using the international HR platform Deel has grown by 35 percent this year, while the number of employees working remotely for Latvian companies has doubled. 

According to Laas, Latvian companies hire foreign employees mainly in Egypt, Macedonia, Georgia, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Spain, Italy, Azerbaijan and the Philippines. The sectors most frequently looking for foreign employees are software development, information technologies and services, marketing and advertising, cosmetics, financial services, design, entertainment and transport. 

The most popular sectors for Latvian employees to work in foreign companies are software development, information technology and services, financial services, computer game development, human resources, marketing and advertising, internet media, programming, and security specialists.

Asked about current trends in the HR industry, Laas said that Deel has observed five most commonplace trends, and although they vary depending on the region, industry and company size, she expects Latvian companies to follow them as well.

Among the trends, Laas named remote work and flexible working hours, more inclusive work environments and teams, investing in employees' well-being and professional skills, as well as an increasing use of data and analytics in HR to gain insights into employees' behavior, performance and satisfaction.

Laas noted that to date, over 600 local and foreign workers have signed employment contracts in Latvia through Deel. This year, despite the economic challenges, there has been a 35 percent increase in the number of Latvian companies using Deel's services, and the company expects the upward trend to continue in 2024.

Deel is an multinational HR platform that helps companies simplify all aspects of international workforce management. Deel works with full-time employees in more than 150 countries in compliance with local legal requirements.

According to Firmas.lv, Deel is represented in Latvia by Deel Latvia, a company registered in July 2021. The company has a share capital of EUR 2,800 and is wholly owned by US-registered Deel.