Florence Cazemajou-Flint brings more than 25 years of experience in public and private companies to her role as chief financial officer of Safeguard Global, where she leads the finance, accounting, tax, and treasury teams. Before joining the company, she served as CFO of Jurassic Quest and Funimation.
Safeguard Global recently commissioned a survey of 400 CFOs from companies headquartered in the U.S. and U.K. The findings revealed a striking gap between interest and action.
In this Q&A, Cazemajou-Flint explains why confidence in global hiring does not always translate into action, which compliance risks companies often overlook, and how CFOs can evaluate the full cost of entering a new market.
How did you become a CFO, and what experiences most shaped the finance leader you are today?
My finance career began in the automotive industry in Paris before taking me into hospitality, where I spent more than a decade working for cruise lines and hotel brands and opening hotels across Southeast Asia. I later moved to the US, managed mergers and acquisitions for a hotel brand, helped a French conglomerate scale to $5 billion in revenue, and held CFO roles in manufacturing and entertainment.
Each transition required me to relearn regulations, cultures, and ways of working. Those experiences taught me that adaptability, resilience, and communication are as important as technical expertise. A finance leader must understand the business, listen to the people closest to it, and build the infrastructure that allows the organization to move confidently into new areas.
What is the best business advice you have ever received, and how has it influenced the way you lead?
I like to live by the quote, “Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
I encourage my team to bring challenges to me early so we can solve them together. Creating a safe environment where people can raise problems openly requires honest communication, a willingness to consider different perspectives, and some vulnerability from the leader. I am only as good as my team, so it is important that we can work efficiently together.
Can you give me an overview of the research you conducted regarding hiring?
We commissioned a survey of 400 CFOs, with 200 headquartered in the US and 200 in the UK, across several industries. We asked about their companies’ global hiring plans and their perspectives on hiring internationally.
We found a striking paradox: 97% of CFOs said their organization was at least interested in international hiring, and 96% believed it was prepared to do so compliantly. However, only 22% had plans to hire globally within the next six months, while 37% were prioritizing domestic hiring, reducing cross-border hiring, or doing both.
Why are so many CFOs interested in global hiring but holding back from doing it?
CFOs clearly recognize the value of global talent, and two-thirds told us they are involved in every final decision about international hiring. However, confidence and interest do not always translate into action.
Global hiring decisions are being made amid evolving compliance requirements, different data privacy rules, and geopolitical uncertainty. Our research found that 40% of CFOs have become more cautious about global hiring because of geopolitical disruption, while 38% said it has hindered their ability to expand.
Why do companies still make costly compliance mistakes when hiring globally?
The regulatory environment never stands still. Keeping pace with changes across multiple markets is difficult, which helps explain why every CFO surveyed reported financial losses from noncompliance and 22% reported losses of at least $1 million USD.
Those losses can include fines, penalties, and, in serious cases, being barred from operating in a country altogether. One of the biggest mistakes is assuming that an approach that works in one country will work in another. Employment contracts, taxes, payroll, and benefits are highly localized, so companies need current, in-country expertise.
Why might CFOs feel more prepared for global hiring than they really are?
Preparedness on paper and preparedness in practice can be very different. Eighty-three percent of the CFOs surveyed said their organization could manage local contracts, payroll, taxes, and benefits, with a similar proportion confident that it could convert a contractor into an employee without disruption.
However, global hiring is not a process a company solves once. The real test is whether it has the infrastructure and expertise to remain compliant as regulations and business needs change in every market where it operates.
Can focusing too much on short-term savings lead to higher costs later?
Yes. Our research found that 79% of CFOs said their company prioritizes cost savings over accessing top talent when hiring globally.
Lower labor costs may make a market appear attractive, but those savings must be considered alongside local employment laws, tax requirements, and compliance obligations. Every company represented in our research reported losing money because of noncompliance, and some reported seven-figure losses. CFOs should consider the total cost and risk over the life of the hire, not simply where it is cheapest to hire.
What compliance mistake is most often overlooked when a company hires in a new country?
The most overlooked mistake is assuming that a compliance approach used in one country can be replicated somewhere else. Employment, labor, and tax requirements vary by jurisdiction and change independently.
The complexity may also extend beyond national law to state, provincial, city, or municipal requirements. Companies need to examine every requirement applying to the specific worker, location, and employment arrangement.
How can CFOs decide whether hiring in a new country is worth the risk?
CFOs should begin by asking whether the benefits of hiring in that country outweigh the potential risks. Different companies may reach different conclusions about the same market based on their priorities, resources, and risk tolerance.
The assessment should extend beyond salaries to include available talent, the market’s strategic value, tax and employment requirements, compliance complexity, and the potential financial consequences of a mistake. The goal is not to eliminate every risk, but to understand it well enough to decide whether the opportunity is worthwhile and whether the organization can manage it.
What three things should CFOs check before hiring globally?
CFOs should ask where they want to hire and how stable the market is, how quickly they need to hire, and how well they understand local employment and labor laws. The answers can reveal whether the company has the infrastructure and expertise to manage the risks itself.
If it does not, an employer of record (EOR) can hire, onboard, and pay employees on its behalf while helping manage local compliance. This can provide an established route into a country where the company does not have an entity and offer flexibility if conditions change. An EOR does not eliminate every risk, but it gives CFOs another way to manage complexity, move quickly, and maintain flexibility.
Florence Cazemajou-Flint brings more than 25 years of experience in public and private companies to her role as chief financial officer of Safeguard Global, where she leads the finance, accounting, tax, and treasury teams. Before joining the company, she served as CFO of Jurassic Quest and Funimation.
Safeguard Global recently commissioned a survey of 400 CFOs from companies headquartered in the U.S. and U.K. The findings revealed a striking gap between interest and action.
In this Q&A, Cazemajou-Flint explains why confidence in global hiring does not always translate into action, which compliance risks companies often overlook, and how CFOs can evaluate the full cost of entering a new market.
