A new report from Multiplier indicates that a shortage of AI talent within the United States and tightening immigration policies are compelling small and medium-sized enterprises to fundamentally overhaul their recruitment strategies. A significant 87% of surveyed US SMEs now view global hiring not as a strategic advantage but as a necessity for survival.
The report, titled "The Global Talent Battle," surveyed 500 senior US business decision-makers. It identifies the core driver of this shift as the skills gap created by AI: 60% of responding companies stated that the rise of AI has dramatically increased their need for specialized expertise currently lacking in-house. Concurrently, 76% of businesses reported that H-1B visa restrictions are directly impacting their workforce planning, forcing them to adopt a remote-work-first hiring model.
Sagar Khatri, Co-founder and CEO of Multiplier, commented that talent has never been confined to a single geographic area, but historically, most small companies lacked the infrastructure to look beyond their local markets for suitable candidates. He observes that companies are now shifting to a model of "hiring where the talent is," rather than attempting to relocate talent to them.
However, the challenges of global hiring are particularly acute for SMEs that lack dedicated HR resources. The report shows that only 21% of SMEs can proactively manage cross-border compliance issues, and nearly 25% often find it difficult to meet regulatory requirements—a rate nearly double that of larger enterprises. More concerning is that a high 82% of companies reported having failed to successfully hire overseas talent due to compliance, tax, or regulatory obstacles.
Catherine Wragg, Chief People Officer at TriNet, noted that accessing the right talent has become one of the biggest constraints on growth for small businesses. As demand for AI-related skills accelerates and traditional hiring pathways narrow, SMEs are forced to look beyond their local markets, but the lack of infrastructure significantly increases risk and complexity. Data from the report corroborates this trend: since April 2024, usage of the Multiplier platform by US companies has grown by 16.4%.
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