How Pelago uses Multiplier’s EOR to simplify global expansion

The challenge: Employing across borders

Despite already using an EOR to manage their initial international hires, Pelago faced a critical barrier to scaling. While the existing vendor provided the mechanism for hiring, it failed to provide the cost-efficiency, transparency, and partnership required to grow its overseas headcount growth.

These inefficiencies threatened to derail Pelago’s agility in the competitive travel market. With a lean HR team of only three people based in Singapore, they lacked the subject matter expertise required to navigate the complex labor laws of multiple countries they intended to hire in.

The HR team was also forced to operate with a frustrating lack of oversight. Their previous platform restricted access to critical data, such as employee expense claims, limiting visibility only to managers. This resulted in a disconnect between people operations and actual employee activity.

“The employee experience wasn’t user friendly,“ says Evelyn Goh, People Operations Assistant Manager at Pelago. “We felt like we didn’t have an overview of what’s going on.”

Pelago’s setup was fundamentally unscalable. They were trapped in a model where every new hire compounded their financial inefficiency due to high vendor fees. With their internal capacity maxed out, they needed a true partner to handle the legal complexities of entering markets like India, Indonesia, and Japan.

The solution: Expanding Pelago’s HR capabilities

Multiplier solved Pelago’s growth bottleneck by replacing their expensive, opaque provider with a cost-effective, transparent EOR solution. This shift transformed their global operations from a compliance burden into a streamlined, scalable process.

A seamless talent transfer

“Our CSM was very supportive during our journey as we were transiting from one EOR to another.”

Evelyn Goh,

People Operations Assistant Manager, Pelago

The onboarding process saw Pelago successfully navigate the complex legal hurdles of switching providers. The most significant hurdle was transferring existing employees from the previous EOR to Multiplier.

“We had concerns about acknowledging years of service or even leave accrual which the team managed to address,” says Goh.

Multiplier’s team managed this delicate transition by creating legal documents ensuring that years of service and accrued leave balances were acknowledged and carried over, preserving the employees’ benefits despite the change in legal employer. The transition was stable, with the dedicated Customer Success Manager providing hands-on support throughout the migration.

An extension of Pelago

“We see Multiplier as having an advisory role with anything that’s compliance related.”

Evelyn Goh,

People Operations Assistant Manager, Pelago

Multiplier’s support team functioned as an extension of Pelago’s lean three-person HR department. “Our team of three are not subject matter experts,” says Goh. “So having a new partner that is an expert in all these fields just made sense for us.”

When Pelago enters a new market, Multiplier acts as a partner rather than just a vendor. They provide a playbook of key considerations and fact-check the HR team’s assumptions before onboarding begins.

The team serves as the primary reliance point for sensitive issues, such as interpreting statutory regulations. This advisory role ensures Pelago remains compliant without needing internal experts for every jurisdiction.

The result: A streamlined, scalable solution

“With Multiplier in the picture, it definitely helped to alleviate the pains of the team.”

Evelyn Goh,

People Operations Assistant Manager, Pelago

The implementation of Multiplier transformed Pelago’s global operations from a costly, opaque administrative burden into a streamlined, scalable competitive advantage as they grew to an international team.

Efficiency and cost reduction

Multiplier centralized the management of its new employees across multiple countries (including India, Indonesia, and Japan) into a single dashboard, eliminating the messy job of managing tasks like payroll dates and benefits administration across disparate systems in multiple countries. Pelago’s HR team gained an immediate overview of what employees were claiming, solving the blind spot that had previously frustrated operations.

The impact of the switch was immediate. Multiplier ensured that everything from payroll dates to expense approvals was aligned and compliant, allowing the team to spend their time more valuably.

“With our team being very small we have other areas we can now focus on such as hiring and employee engagement,” says Goh. Ultimately, the HR team estimates they cut the time spent on compliance and administrative tasks in half.

Pelago also believes that at its current scale it would have been paying approximately twice as much to its previous EOR provider, demonstrating the efficiency of Multiplier’s pricing model.

Providing confidence

With Multiplier’s EOR in place, Pelago is shifting focus to retention and refinement. With Multiplier, they aim to align benefits across their global workforce to ensure fairness and improve the employee value proposition. The focus will be on ensuring that their dozens of international employees are supported by consistent, compliant, and efficient processes.

Ultimately, Multiplier has enabled Pelago to bypass the steep learning curve of global expansion, freeing them up for more valuable activities. “Multiplier feels like an extension of the team,” says Goh. “They focus on things that they are good at so we can focus on what matters most internally.”