How Knightcorp saves 50% per role with ‘simpler’ cross-border hiring

When Julie Bye joined Knightcorp to lead talent acquisition and HR, the insurance broker was launching an ambitious national expansion.

Following the appointment of a new CEO, the WesternAustralia-based firm sought to growits footprint across APAC, starting with the Philippines. To support this rapid growth without inflating overhead, Knightcorp needed to tap into global talent for specialized broker support and, claims consulting.

However, establishing physical offshore legal entities or relying on traditional recruitment agencies was not a viable path due to the costs involved, and the risk of offshore talent being left underpaid.

The agency problem

“We’re well aware that agencies take a large cut of the fee – actual workers aren’t that well paid.”

Julie Bye, Talent Manager

The talent leader looked for an alternative model that allowed fair pay and avoided the heavy administrative undertaking of establishing a physical international entity.

“We were looking for something to enable us to do that… times have changed,” she notes. “There are providers now who provide a middle ground.”

A further concern for Knightcorp was timing. The firm required dedicated client coverage across US time zones, and therefore needed a global partner that could legally employ talent in North America without setup delays.

“We needed to have a local employee in the US as  we need to support  clients there, and we typically operate in a completely different time zone,” Bye notes.

Background checks & onboarding simplified

“To go on to the Multiplier platforma nd onboard a new employee,,, it’s probably simpler and easier than onboarding a new employee in Australian”

Julie Bye, Talent Manager

Knightcorp opted to work with a partner that would allow it to hire at the pace required without losing control over compensation or compliance.

To access skilled global talent quickly and fairly, it selected Multiplier as its Employer of Record (EOR) infrastructure partner.

“We knew that we could have employees all around the world with Multiplier,” Bye explains. It made the process a lot easier to determine where we wanted to hire.”

Wherever the hire is made in the world, be it the Philippines, the US, or elsewhere, Knightcorp can now integrate offshore team members directly into daily operations, team meetings, and annual company celebrations.

The ease of the process has been crucial for the insurance firm as it meets client demand. “To go on to the Multiplier platform and onboard a new employee,,, it’s probably simpler and easier than onboarding a new employee in Australian,” Bye says.

A long-term partnership for national expansion

The operational shift delivered myriad benefits for Knightcorp. Firstly, the insurance firm has been able to scale its client base without needing to hire additional account managers in high-cost regions like Australia.

“We’re saving around 50% per role, compared to if we hired in Australia”

Julie Bye, Talent Manager

At the same time, the ability to hire global talent at pace has enabled some staff to take on more work, delivering further cost reductions.

“By restructuring the team, our Account Executives have been able to take on some of their clients and focus on higher-value activities,” says Bye. “In the past, supporting that level of client growth would have required us to hire an additional Account Manager in Australia. Instead, we’ve been able to increase capacity and deliver a meaningful cost saving through a more efficient operating model.”

Beyond the bottom-line impact, the platform also allows Knightcorp to seamlessly run background checks on candidates, verifying candidate credentials with complete peace of mind.

“The ability to verify a candidate’s employment history and conduct criminal record checks gives us an extra layer of confidence when hiring,” says Knightcorp’s Talent Manager. “It’s a simple process, delivers exactly the information we need and provides real value-add service.”

With a 10-year growth plan underway, Knightcorp will continue to rely on Multiplier’s compliant-by-design platform and human-first support to power its borderless workforce.

Bye is a staunch advocate for Multiplier’s partnership-based approach, including in some unorthodox circumstances.

“I was on holiday in the pool talking to someone whilst our kids were playing,” she recounts. They mentioned they ran a small business in Sydney and currently using an outsourcing company to utilise Philippine resources but that it was expensive. So I suggested that they use Multiplier!

“I would highly recommend that anybody look into Multiplier’s services and utilize quality staff from overseas,” Bye concludes.