American companies will continue to face recruitment challenges in 2026, with 6.9 million open roles and hiring slowing to 4.8 million as the labour market cools. Even with job openings down 5% year‑over‑year, demand for specialised skills still outpaces domestic supply — and declining immigration rates are expected to intensify this imbalance over the coming years.
To bridge this widening skills gap, U.S. businesses are increasingly looking beyond domestic borders for talent. Accessing global talent markets enables companies to enter new regions, reduce costs, and strengthen international customer relationships — all while building a more linguistically and culturally diverse workforce. Above all, global hiring reinforces a company's ability to maintain an international presence despite political and economic uncertainty, laying the foundation for sustainable long‑term growth.
To do this in a way that's efficient and cost-effective, companies will need to pinpoint the countries that are best positioned to drive their expansion in 2026.
Key factors for selecting top recruitment countries
Evaluating the five parameters outlined below will provide a clear overview of the global recruitment landscape, informing your decisions on where to focus hiring efforts:
Costs: Salaries are just one element of total employee expenses. While understanding salary expectations for your industry with a salary calculator is a crucial first step, each country will have different legal benefits, taxes and payroll requirements. An employee cost calculator will give you a comprehensive view of overall costs per region, beyond base salary.
Talent availability: Countries with a strong talent pipeline can offer a competitive advantage. Consider factors such as education levels, workforce skill sets, talent quality and overall labour market conditions, including wider economic factors or industry-specific layoffs.
Time zone alignment: Proximity to U.S. headquarters can offer both potential benefits and challenges. While hiring employees in different time zones can facilitate business with international clients, it also requires a stronger focus on fostering connection and inclusion to ensure a sense of belonging.
Language diversity: You should consider linguistic opportunities as well – whether it’s better to prioritize English proficiency for smoother onboarding, or leverage native languages to strengthen your relationships with global clients.
Compliance complexity: Although every country has its own unique regulations around hiring, onboarding and termination, some countries are particularly complex – for example, Western Europe and Latin America consistently rank among the most complex legal jurisdictions, affecting hiring efficiency.
Top countries for hiring in 2026
Factoring these criteria, the following countries stand out as the most promising recruitment opportunities for U.S. businesses this year.
Spain
Not only a gateway to Europe, Spain has a growing tech scene in its own right, seeing the highest tech investment of any Southern European country between 2015 and 2024. Its workforce is highly qualified, with 46.4% of workers having completed higher education, surpassing the Euro area average of 39%.
Compared to other European nations, Spain also offers less complex compliance regulations, unlike these other 10 jurisdictions, and lower employment costs. For example, additional employee payments in Spain are $4,500 (USD) lower than in Italy and nearly $17,000 lower than in France for a salary of $85,000.
Malaysia
Despite its robust and growing economy, Malaysia faces a high-skilled labour gap, creating opportunities for U.S. firms to tap into its expanding talent pool. In 2023 alone, over 280,000 graduates entered the workforce, while only 49,000 high-skilled jobs were created, leaving a surplus of skilled professionals.
With both a high proficiency in English and a diverse range of other languages, including Mandarin and various dialects thanks to its large Chinese community, it's an ideal business hub for engaging with more expensive Asian markets such as Singapore and China, where additional employee costs reach $2,320 (USD) and $21,200 per year, respectively.
India
With its young, rapidly urbanizing workforce contributing to arguably the fastest growing economy in the world today, India remains one of the most exciting global hiring markets. It's a powerhouse for supplying top global talent and home to the second-largest pool of STEM graduates, producing 2.55 million per year, second only to China.
Regularly ranking among the hardest working countries in the world, India offers some of the most cost-effective hiring opportunities – India's employees cost $4,700 less in additional costs compared to Singapore on a salary of $85,000 – making it a standout choice for businesses seeking top-tier talent at competitive rates.
Comparing salary benchmarks for Software Engineers
While cost savings are just one of many factors in determining which countries are best-positioned to support global growth, analyzing typical hiring costs for a Software Engineer highlights the significant benefits of hiring abroad for American companies.
Atlas HXM's Global Salary Calculator provides regional market rate salaries for Software Engineers, while the Global Employee Cost Calculator factors in expected taxes and legal contributions. Together, they give you a precise benchmark of market expectations – helping you identify the best countries to hire from and determine the right remuneration to offer:
Atlas HXM will help accelerate your global expansion
Global expansion is key for sustained growth, but it comes with a number of pitfalls, including potential compliance issues, logistic headaches and inefficient entities that increase costs and restrict the ability to pivot. If mishandled, these issues can cost companies more than the money saved by hiring beyond the U.S.
Partnering with Atlas HXM, an Employer of Record, will help you unlock true borderless hiring while driving your global expansion. With entities in over 160 countries, we handle all legal, HR and tax compliance, removing the need to set up a legal entity. This reduces administrative burden for your team so they can focus on overall strategy, as you onboard talent in just four to eight weeks. We'll provide the breadth and flexibility to accelerate your global expansion as you transform your workforce.