The appetite for global hiring continues to grow in 2026 despite ongoing regulatory volatility, according to the newly released The Global Atlas Report: 2026 from Atlas HXM. Based on a survey of senior HR, legal, finance and operations leaders across North America and Europe, the report reveals that 52% of organizations plan to expand their international presence in the next 18 months, compared to just 16% maintaining current structures.
Finding talent has become as difficult as remaining compliant, with 49% of organizations with an international workforce saying attracting and retaining international talent is very or extremely challenging. This matches concerns about managing operational complexity across countries and surpasses worries about high international workforce costs and visa complexity. In the United States specifically, 37% of respondents cited attracting and retaining international talent as highly challenging.
Contrary to expectations, immigration and regulatory uncertainties are not deterring expansion but accelerating it. Sixty-eight percent of organizations globally say changing immigration policies are accelerating workforce expansion and hiring decisions, with fewer than one in five reporting delays. Ninety percent of respondents say they feel prepared to navigate new or changing immigration policies, including 92% of US organizations.
AI is rapidly reshaping workforce strategy, with one in ten decision-makers now reporting fully automating certain tasks using AI. At least 80% of HR leaders use AI for employment law research, regulatory monitoring, and report summarization. Rather than eliminating work, AI appears to be reshaping skill demand, with 53% reporting increased demand for creativity and innovation, 52% for risk assessment, and 51% for human-AI collaboration. At the same time, 51% of organizations report widening skills gaps within their workforce.
As global expansion and AI adoption accelerate, employee engagement is emerging as a major challenge. Sixty-nine percent of leaders say they find it challenging to keep their international workforce engaged across borders. Organizations report increases in higher turnover and job-hopping (50%), cultural friction impacting collaboration (50%), burnout (48%), and quiet quitting (48%). Meanwhile, 54% report an increase in employees using AI-assisted workarounds.
Despite expanding globally, 77% of organizations say return-to-office mandates are "good to enforce," rising to 83% in the US, highlighting a growing tension between global hiring ambitions and location-based workforce policies. The findings point to a fundamental transformation in global expansion strategy, with talent strategy becoming a board-level issue rather than just an HR function.
