The challenge: establishing a localized global presence to forge deeper relationships in medical research
Founded in 1890, the independent and family-led Karger Publishers is on a mission to connect and advance the global health sciences industry by making vital research accessible worldwide.
To build sincere connections and produce trusted content, Karger realized they needed local operations directly in the countries where their customers and researchers reside. However, hiring specialized professionals across international markets without local corporate infrastructure presented significant administrative and compliance roadblocks.
"A successful publisher must be good at forging relationships with customers, editors, authors, researchers, and reviewers worldwide," said Daniel Ebneter, Chief Executive Officer at Karger. "Having local operations in the countries in which we have customers is key to building sincere connections. But, hiring people in markets outside of your own presents a unique set of challenges."
"Our team agreed that having a harmonious approach to international employment was crucial to Karger’s future growth into all corners of the world," added Daniela Zimmermann, Head of Human Resources at Karger.
The solution: transitioning to a reliable global employment partner to streamline international hiring
To bypass the complexities and risks associated with global expansion, Karger initially partnered with another employer of record (EOR) to help hire outside of Switzerland without setting up foreign entities. However, as Karger's global footprint matured, they outgrew their original EOR provider.
In 2021, seeking a more robust global growth expert, Karger transitioned their international operations to G-P. Today, Karger leverages G-P EOR and G-P's Global Employment Platform to strategically hire, onboard, and manage their international teams with ease.
We conducted research on different global employment partners, and for us, the best decision was to collaborate with G-P. We are truly happy with that choice. G-P serves all our offices internationally, they are located exactly where we need them to be, and the collaboration with folks at G-P has been outstanding since day one. They have proved to be a reliable and trusted partner. Trying to uncover and understand the unique regulations around hiring employees in each country is a very cumbersome task. G-P makes it easy.”
The impact: swift onboarding across strategic markets and a unified global workforce
With G-P managing local employment regulations, legal compliance, payroll, benefits, and administrative tasks in highly targeted strategic markets, the Karger team is free to concentrate on their core operations — engaging directly with the global medical and scientific research communities.
By relying on G-P’s unmatched employment expertise, Karger accelerated their global recruitment timeline, bringing new professionals onto the team in a matter of days rather than months.
"As soon as we inform G-P that we want to hire someone, we can have the person employed within a few days," said Zimmermann. "They always respond promptly and provide swift assistance. G-P’s global employment expertise is unmatched."
Crucially, working with G-P ensures that Karger can seamlessly manage the day-to-day activities of all team members across their global footprint while preserving a highly inclusive corporate culture.
All of our talented professionals are fully recognized as Karger employees. Any colleagues hired via G-P are treated identically to any other member of our staff.”
Moving forward, Karger plans to continue their partnership with G-P to bring health sciences publications to an even broader audience across new international horizons.
"We are expanding further in the international field, and I’m really looking forward to being exposed to various cultures and people," said Zimmermann. "Through G-P, I continuously learn about certain specialties related to contract law or labor law specific to each country."
