“Omnipresent has helped us expand a lot quicker, and having a dedicated support team is invaluable.”

Halfbrick is a professional game development studio based in Brisbane, Australia. Founded in 2001, the company has been at the forefront of the Australian game development industry for many years, with a portfolio of hugely successful, independently released games on multiple platforms. With the success of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, Halfbrick has become one of the most well-known indie developers in the world.

Local talent shortages pushed Halfbrick to look beyond its borders

Halfbrick is always looking for high-quality tech talent - people who can bring their specialized skill sets and experience to augment and expand its current workforce. The team found it was getting harder to source new hires locally with the required programming qualifications and experience. When the pandemic struck and offices shut down, Halfbrick's workforce moved online. Having this remote workforce model in operation motivated Halfbrick to adopt a different approach to hiring and expand its reach to the global talent pool. It was a move that instantly guaranteed them access to large volumes of top-class tech professionals located around the world.  However, what soon became apparent was that although finding such talent was relatively easy, understanding and ensuring compliance with complex local employment and tax regulations was not.

A trusted partner for international employment

Hiring an international workforce is complex and time-consuming. Chloe Pearson, Halfbrick’s Senior Accountant, found this out when she attempted to hire two Swedish employees. Despite her best efforts, Halfbrick was struggling with registering for the relevant tax authorities to comply with local regulations, which was adversely impacting the recruitment process and demanding a lot of her time. That’s when she found Omnipresent, and these issues were quickly resolved. Halfbrick now has 25 team members across 17 countries, all of whom were hired and onboarded in under two months through Omnipresent’s EOR service. The significant time savings mean Halfbrick can expand its services efficiently and speedily, benefiting business outcomes and its customers. Halfbrick is now leveraging Omnipresent's tools and resources to get a better understanding of employment regulations in different hiring countries so that the team knows in advance what is required for compliance. Having this information informs the hiring decision and facilitates a faster and smoother onboarding process for everyone.

Building a global team quickly and compliantly

With Omnipresent, Halfbrick can now implement a hiring policy with no limits - and Chloe can focus her time on other projects. What’s more, the business can pursue talent that best fits its needs - tech professionals who are not only highly qualified coders but are also multitalented and hungry for professional development. Halfbrick can also continue to recruit graduates biannually but is no longer confined to local universities to find these candidates. Moving to the world stage opens up more opportunities and possibilities, allowing Halfbrick to select from exceptional new talent across the globe. Furthermore, having a dedicated expert support team in Omnipresent expedites Halfbrick's global hiring practices, accelerating onboarding and leading to its continued expansion.

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