Eight markets. Eight sets of outreach rules.
What you may lawfully send a candidate, which channel they will answer on, and how long before they can start all change at the border. A campaign playbook written for one market is, in several of the others, either ineffective or unlawful.
Where we work, and what changes in each one
Open a market for its outreach rules, response channels, notice conventions and fee bands.
United Kingdom
London · Manchester · Birmingham · Leeds · Edinburgh
PECR outreach rules, notice of one to six months, and twelve regional markets with different pay and different reach.
United States
New York · Bay Area · Chicago · Austin · Boston
CAN-SPAM permits cold email, the TCPA does not permit cold calling; thirty metros and an offer dominated by unvested equity.
United Arab Emirates
Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Sharjah · DIFC · ADGM
A Gulf-wide catchment, multilingual outreach, WhatsApp as a business channel, and visa transfer inside the start date.
Germany
Munich · Berlin · Frankfurt · Hamburg · Stuttgart
Cold advertising email generally needs prior consent, workplace calls are limited by case law, and notice runs to quarter-end.
Netherlands
Amsterdam · Rotterdam · Utrecht · Eindhoven
Opt-in marketing rules, part-time as the norm even at senior level, and holiday allowance outside the monthly salary.
Belgium
Brussels · Antwerp · Ghent · Leuven · Liège
Three working languages as the binding filter, opt-in advertising rules, and packages with a thirteenth month and double holiday pay.
Austria
Vienna · Graz · Linz · Salzburg · Innsbruck
The strictest consent regime of our markets, a statutory opt-out list to check, and pay quoted across fourteen payments.
Australia
Sydney · Melbourne · Brisbane · Perth · Adelaide
Inferred consent under the Spam Act makes targeted outreach workable; five capitals, three time zones and superannuation inside the package.
Four things that break a cross-border programme
These are the errors we see most often when a process designed for one market is applied to another.
Cold email is lawful in some of these markets and not in others
US federal law permits unsolicited commercial email with conditions. Australia allows inferred consent where a published business address matches a genuinely relevant role. Germany and Austria generally require prior express consent even business to business, and Austria additionally maintains a statutory opt-out list that must be checked before sending. Running one campaign template across all eight is not a strategy, it is an exposure.
The channel that works is not the same in every market
WhatsApp is a primary business channel in the Gulf and almost unused for professional approaches in Germany. Industrial and Mittelstand populations in Germany and Austria are reachable by phone and barely present on professional networks. An email-only campaign will underperform in half of these markets.
Notice periods vary from two weeks to twelve months
A US candidate starts in two to four weeks. A German or Austrian senior hire may be serving six months to quarter-end. A Belgian employee with long service can carry several months. Quoting a single global time-to-hire across these markets produces a plan that is wrong everywhere.
Pay is not comparable until it is normalised
Austria pays fourteen times a year, the Netherlands adds eight per cent holiday allowance, Belgium adds a thirteenth month and double holiday pay then indexes it, Australia puts superannuation inside the advertised package and the US loads senior pay with equity. An offer built on an unadjusted comparison is read immediately as coming from outside the market.
Before you commission across borders
Talent sourcing services
What an engagement covers, what you receive and how it is scoped.
The process and timeline
Week by week, from brief to qualified shortlist.
What it costs
2026 fee bands in four currencies, against the contingency model.
Sourcing vs recruitment
Four ways to fill a role, and when sourcing is the wrong one.
Talent mapping by market
Understand the market before you work a single role.
The resource library
Every guide, market page and answer in one place.
Sourcing across more than one market?
Tell us the roles and the countries. We will say what is lawful in each, which channel actually works, how long before someone can start, and what it costs.
Start a conversation