HomeToGo, a vacation home rental service, was able to use PEO to manage the complexity of the early pandemic days.
HomeToGo sets up travelers in vacation homes, cabins, beach houses, apartments, and condos all over the world. They also target the more intrepid among us: Houseboats, castles, farm stays, glamping, you name it — they’re the go-to platform for adventurous accommodation options.
HomeToGo continued to grow its business globally…
Founded in 2014 and operating in partnership with dozens of international travel apps and websites, 2019 was the year that HomeToGo decided to really light a rocket under its Asia-Pacific expansion.
They sought a flexible international hiring solution: They needed to be able to easily scale in each international location to reflect local demand. The time-consuming and expensive prospect of setting up separate legal entities in every international location did not appeal.
This is where Horizons’ global PEO solution came in. A global PEO — global Professional Employer Organization — becomes the local employer of record for an international business in any country or region it wishes to operate in.
Horizons took care of employment contracts, payroll, and employee taxes for HomeToGo in China, Japan, Australia, and South Korea, while the employees themselves worked under the day-to-day management of HomeToGo.
By using a global PEO solution, we were able to match our global staffing needs with rapidly evolving demand. Horizons enabled us to do this quickly — and cost-effectively —without the need to set up and close local entities.
…then came Covid…
When the pandemic hit in early 2020, many companies in the travel industry were left scrambling.
Not HomeToGo.
Global PEO meant HomeToGo could be nimble — it could respond quickly to changes in demand due to lockdowns and travel restrictions. It wasn’t ‘locked in’ to anyone overseas market.
With Horizons’ support, HomeToGo was able to restructure its Asia-Pacific operations with speed, reducing its presence in some places, while ramping up its operations in other countries as international travel resumed. HomeToGo was then able to hire staff in new locations — Thailand, France, Spain, and the Netherlands — without needing to worry about slow company set-up and bureaucratic processes.
Going from strength to strength, October 2021 saw the company managing a successful IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
…and global PEO saved the day.
Summing up his experience, HomeToGo co-founder and CEO, Dr. Patrick Andrae, put it this way:
“Our industry moves fast. We need to be ready to support our customers wherever they choose to go on vacation.
By using a global PEO solution, we were able to match our global staffing needs with rapidly evolving demand. Horizons enabled us to do this quickly — and cost-effectively —without the need to set up and close local entities.”
About Horizons
Horizons help businesses expand, recruit and hire in 180+ international locations. Horizons handles all employee payroll, benefits, and tax compliance on behalf of international enterprises, saving them up to 85 percent on the cost of international hires.
