Key Takeaways:
- Most delays in selecting an EOR happen internally, making early stakeholder alignment just as important as choosing the right provider.
- A dedicated project owner helps keep the process on schedule by coordinating stakeholders, managing timelines, and driving the final decision.
- Companies are more likely to move forward when EOR discussions are tied to clear business goals instead of feature checklists.
Your company has decided it’s time to explore global hiring, and everyone agrees an Employer of Record (EOR) is the right approach. The research is done, the shortlist of potential partners is ready.
Then…nothing happens.
The EOR evaluation stage grinds to a halt. Shifting priorities and unclear ownership over the selection process can create delays that can drag on for months.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. If your project has lost steam, these strategies can help keep the process moving and get your project back on track.
Why EOR Selection Projects Often Lose Momentum
Most EOR reviews don't freeze up because companies decide against international hiring. Typically, they lose momentum because multiple departments need to approve the decision, stakeholders have competing priorities, and key questions about budget, legal review, and implementation take time to resolve.
Internal Priorities Change
According to Forrester research, 86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process. Product launches, fundraising rounds, reorganizations, and budget cycles can all push global hiring further down a company’s priority list.
It isn’t that the company has decided against expanding beyond borders. But due to the added complexity, the project shifts from "right now" to "someday."
This is especially common when there isn't an immediate candidate waiting to be onboarded. Without a specific employee in mind, there’s no clear timeline, and the project lacks the urgency needed to keep it moving. Other initiatives with firm deadlines take precedence.
No One Clearly Owns the Decision
Most EOR assessments involve multiple departments, such as:
- Hiring managers who determine that a role is needed and who craft a job description.
- People operations and HR for the logistics of hiring, benefits, and the employee experience.
- Finance for budget and payroll.
- Legal for reviewing the contract with an EOR provider.
- Procurement for vendor due diligence.
- Executive leadership that ultimately signs off on the EOR partnership.
Each department needs to weigh in on the decision, but often no one person is responsible for driving it forward. Without a clear owner, it's easy for the process to get stuck as each team waits for someone else to move the project forward.
Too Many Stakeholders Need to Approve the EOR
Even when someone owns the project, getting everyone to sign off can take time. Different stakeholders review different aspects of the decision, and those reviews don't always happen at the same pace.
Some companies wait for one department to finish before involving the next, which can add weeks to the timeline. Others try to run reviews in parallel, but coordinating feedback from multiple teams before executive approval can be just as challenging.
Common EOR Approval Roadblocks
Beyond internal coordination, several common decision points can slow an EOR vendor approval. They're all important to address, but each adds time to the approval process.
Determining Whether an EOR Is the Right Solution
Sometimes the delay isn't about choosing a specific provider at all. Even if you’ve already received a green light, some decision makers might still be debating whether an EOR is the right approach.
A key person in the process might be taking another look at the alternatives — such as establishing a legal entity, hiring contractors, working with local partners, or delaying international hiring until they're ready to make a larger investment.
Each option comes with trade-offs. Setting up a local entity can cost USD 20,000 to USD 150,000 per country and take months to establish. Hiring contractors carries employee misclassification risks, while relying on local partners may work for one or two countries but doesn't scale well for broader expansion. Delaying hiring can also mean losing candidates or slowing business growth.
Comparing these options takes time, and without a clear framework for evaluating them, companies can spend weeks debating the best path forward.
Budget Questions Need Answers
Finance teams will want to know more than just an EOR's monthly service fee. They'll want to understand the total cost of employment, including payroll, benefits, currency conversion, tax obligations, and how those costs scale as the company grows internationally.
Without those answers, budget approval can become a bottleneck. In many organizations, finance isn't brought into the conversation until late in the evaluation process, leaving the hiring team to make the business case for stakeholders who weren't involved from the beginning.
Evaluating EOR Providers
With dozens of Employer of Record services on the market, many companies struggle to differentiate between providers.
Every EOR provider promises global coverage and compliance expertise in a demo. But those claims can gloss over real differences in pricing structure, liability ownership, and the level of service provided. Unless you’ve established distinct criteria, the comparisons could stretch out with no clear path forward as to why to choose one provider over another.
An RFP or structured scorecard can help narrow the field, but many companies don't create one until they've already gone back and forth with several providers. At that point, they’re trying to reconstruct which criteria to assess from conversations that have already occurred.
Legal and Procurement Reviews Take Time
As an EOR approval process nears the finish line, the focus often shifts to contracts, data privacy and GDPR compliance, insurance, liability, and vendor due diligence. At this stage, legal and procurement teams typically begin their own reviews, each with separate approval processes and documentation requirements.
Those reviews can add days or even weeks to the timeline. If the EOR provider can't quickly provide requested contracts, compliance documentation, insurance certificates, or security information, approval can drag on even after the rest of the organization is ready to move forward.
How to Keep an EOR Evaluation Moving Forward
Most delays are predictable. A little preparation before you begin assessing EOR vendors can help keep the process on track, reduce unnecessary back-and-forths, and make it easier for stakeholders to reach a decision.
Tie the Project to Business Outcomes
Internally, the conversation should focus on the business problem you're trying to solve, not the EOR platform itself.
Whether the goal is hiring specialized talent, entering a new market more quickly, or avoiding the cost and complexity of establishing a legal entity, those outcomes are what matter most to decision-makers.
When the discussion centers on business impact instead of product features, it's easier to maintain momentum and secure executive buy-in.
Build Alignment Early
Bring everyone who will ultimately approve the decision into the conversation before vendor demos begin. Align on hiring goals, budget, timeline, target countries, expected headcount, and how success will be measured.
Early alignment reduces the chance of new objections surfacing late in the process and ensures everyone is working toward the same goal.
Prepare for Stakeholder Questions
The questions you receive will depend on who's in the room.
Finance, Legal, HR, and IT often have very different priorities. One of the easiest ways to keep things moving is to anticipate the questions each department is likely to ask.
Before you seek their feedback, gather key details such as:
- Pricing, including total employment costs
- Country coverage
- Payroll processes
- Benefits administration
- Compliance documentation
- Security certifications
- Typical implementation timelines
Summarizing this information for each EOR before stakeholder meetings can reduce follow-up questions, build confidence in the recommendation, and help keep the approval process moving.
Assign One Project Owner
Every successful EOR evaluation requires someone to coordinate the effort from start to finish. That person should schedule meetings, gather stakeholder feedback, manage vendor communication, and keep the project moving toward a decision.
The project owner should also establish target dates for each stage. Without a single point of accountability, competing priorities can slow progress and extend the timeline.
How to Restart a Stalled EOR Project
If you hit a roadblock, resist the temptation to start over. Instead, identify the cause of the delay and focus on removing that specific obstacle.
Common causes of decision slowdowns include:
- Budget changes
- Hiring freezes
- Leadership turnover
- Outstanding legal questions
- Procurement delays
- Lack of project ownership
Once you've identified the issue, update your business case, resolve any remaining questions, and establish a realistic timeline with clear milestones.
Keep Global Hiring Moving Forward
The decision to sign off on an EOR partner rarely gets held up because companies decide against international hiring. More often, they slow down because multiple stakeholders need different information, priorities shift, and internal approvals take longer than expected.
Fortunately, many of those delays are preventable. With a clear business case, early stakeholder alignment, a single project owner, and the right documentation, you can keep the process moving and reach a decision more quickly.
RemoFirst helps companies navigate both the evaluation and implementation process by providing transparent pricing, onboarding guidance, and the information internal stakeholders need to make informed decisions.
To discuss your hiring plans and learn how RemoFirst can help, schedule a demo.
FAQs
Why do EOR approval processes take so long?
EOR approval processes often take longer than expected because multiple departments need to review the decision. HR, finance, legal, procurement, and executive leadership may all have different priorities and approval requirements. Delays also occur when companies are still deciding whether an EOR is the right hiring solution or when important questions about pricing, compliance, and implementation remain unanswered.
Who should own an EOR evaluation?
An EOR evaluation should have one clearly designated owner. This is often someone in HR or People Operations, but Finance, Operations, or another project lead may be a better fit depending on your organization's structure.
Which departments should be involved in an EOR evaluation?
The exact stakeholders vary by company, but most EOR evaluations involve HR or people operations, finance, legal, procurement, hiring managers, and executive leadership. Bringing everyone into the process early helps avoid delays caused by late-stage reviews or new objections.
How long does an EOR approval process usually take?
There isn't a standard timeline because every organization has different approval processes. Companies with a clear project owner, defined criteria, and early stakeholder alignment often move much more quickly than those that evaluate providers without a structured process. Internal approvals typically take longer than the vendor evaluation itself.
How can an Employer of Record help speed up internal approval?
Many EOR providers can provide pricing breakdowns, implementation timelines, security certifications, compliance documentation, and business case materials to address common stakeholder questions. Some providers will also meet directly with legal, procurement, or finance teams to address concerns, reducing back-and-forth and helping the evaluation move more efficiently.
