When I first started working with Turkish teams, I realized how much unique value the country offers—but also how complex the local employment landscape can get. If you plan to hire in Turkey in 2026, you’ll need to be ready for new legal frameworks, evolving payroll costs, and a fast-changing global workforce environment. This guide will help you understand the most current requirements around contracts, legal risks, payroll obligations, and Employer of Record (EOR) solutions. My aim is to make your expansion into Turkey not just possible, but smooth—especially if you’re running a Series B/C-scale up or sitting in a critical HR or management role.
What keeps attracting international companies to the Turkish market? That’s easy. A multilingual and youthful population, strategic geographic location, and strong networks in technology and service sectors. The OECD’s most recent labor market data found that Turkey’s employment rate in late 2025 stood at just 55.1%. This means less fierce competition for local hires compared to other economies.
However, labor participation remains under 70%. The opportunity is real, but success demands care. From my experience, every multinational seeking to launch in Turkey must look at legal risks, benefit obligations, and contract strategy right from the start.
One thing I always tell companies eyeing Turkish talent: Don’t assume hiring costs will be straightforward. Salaries, social security contributions, and employer liabilities can look different depending on region, position, and how you structure your presence on the ground.
The legal minimum wage rises nearly every year in Turkey.
At the start of 2026, the Turkish minimum wage is expected to be revised again, in line with local inflation and living cost calculations. In 2025, the gross minimum wage was 17,002 TRY per month, and projections suggest this will cross 19,000 TRY per month by early 2026.
For skilled remote hires, consider local market rates in Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir as benchmarks. My advice is to always budget for above-average inflation and include mandatory allowances that go beyond gross base pay.
If you’re directly employing in Turkey (not through an EOR), you must factor in these additions to gross salary:
The ‘cost to company’ per local hire generally increases true expenses by 25%–30% over advertised base salaries.Any plan to hire local staff must account for these indirect costs. Companies that get surprised by payroll, insurance, or tax outflows end up facing unnecessary stress.
Terminating a local contract in Turkey often means paying statutory severance—one month’s pay per completed year of service, up to a cap. Compliance mistakes, like missing social security contributions or violating contract protocols, can result in administrative fines or labor court actions. The lesson? Every HR Director or global manager should build a ‘buffer’ for unexpected liabilities and invest in reliable guidance.
If you ask me where most expansion plans fail, it’s contract setup. Turkish law takes a strict view on employment contracts, even more so after legal updates in 2025. Whether you sign workers directly or through an EOR, contracts must be detailed and locally compliant.
Although verbal contracts are allowed for fixed-term roles under one year, the safest route for international companies is to always use written contracts in Turkish, even for project-based assignments.
In my experience, using a bilingual contract (Turkish/English) helps avoid confusion, but only the Turkish text will have legal validity if disputes arise.
When companies want to hire in Turkey, they have a few main choices:
Beware: Fixed-term contracts require a legitimate reason—otherwise, an employee may automatically gain indefinite-term status. Templates from other markets rarely fit local needs. This is why partnering with specialists like EWS Limited makes a real difference.
When I research why foreign companies get into trouble during Turkish rollouts, the same issues pop up every time:
Meeting Turkish regulations can seem intimidating at first. But, as shown in our detailed review of legal risks and worker classification outside your home country, proper onboarding and documented procedures simplify the entire process.
Failure to comply can result in wage claims, reinstatement orders, or administrative penalties—issues I’ve seen stake entire expansion budgets on more than one occasion.
Standard probation periods are 2 months, extendable to 4 months by mutual agreement. Even during probation, statutory rights and obligations apply. Notice periods start at 2 weeks for service up to six months and rise to 8 weeks for longer service. Severance eligibility depends on at least 1 year’s employment but must be included in offer letters.
By Turkish law:
Companies in the IT sector often enhance their offer with meal cards, health coverage, and childcare support to stay competitive with local employers.
Here’s where I’ve seen many series B/C tech companies succeed: using a Turkish EOR partner to legally employ staff if they lack a local entity. This brings speed, risk mitigation, and transparency to the process of securing Turkish talent.
An Employer of Record (EOR) becomes the local legal employer for your Turkish hires, handling payroll, tax, and HR compliance on your behalf while your company directs daily work.
This is especially helpful for agencies, startups, and IT companies entering Turkey for the first time. Not sure how EOR differs from PEO, or when to use each? Our article on PEO vs EOR for your first overseas hire goes further into this comparison.
What I like most: EORs lower your risk of worker misclassification and can even handle offboarding, exit payments, and benefit upgrades. This hands-off structure is exactly what many fast-moving companies need.
When I’m asked about budget planning, I remind clients that EOR providers in Turkey often charge a fixed monthly fee per worker plus a percentage of gross payroll. This usually ranges from 8% to 14% of total salary costs, depending on service complexity and volume. There are no hidden costs, which makes forecasting much easier. The final cost is often still less than setting up and running your own local entity for anything under a five-person team.
I have seen more multinational investment in Turkish talent since 2023, but new local regulations and inflationary trends have changed the baseline for compliance and engagement in 2026. An updated approach to Turkish employment law is needed if you’re hiring for cybersecurity, software development, or support functions from abroad.
The OECD’s employment snapshot for 2026 shows Turkey’s workforce remains underutilized, but there’s enormous untapped potential.
If you are recruiting technical staff or project teams, expect a ‘remote-first’ mindset. But don’t underestimate the importance Turkish workers attach to full-time compliance, job security, and clear contracts.
Remote work, previously rare, is now a core hiring expectation among Turkish professionals, especially in IT. Companies should update contract templates with home office clauses, data privacy guidelines, and expense stipends to stay competitive.
Recent employment updates also touch on data processing, remote onboarding, and home office support allowances, especially important for overseas companies scaling up Turkish teams.
From my work guiding international clients, I recommend a phased approach:
This checklist will help companies align their hiring process with fast-evolving rules and avoid liability. For deeper insight into the process, our compliance checklist for international hiring highlights additional procedural details for 2026.
A common question I get is: “Do we need a local company to hire staff in Turkey?” My answer—it depends on your hiring goals.
The regulatory paperwork for establishing a Turkish LLC, called a ‘limited şirket’, includes registration with the Trade Registry, social security, and tax offices. These steps take several weeks and legal fees may apply. Our EWS team can advise you based on structure, scale, and roadmap.
Legislative updates proposed for 2026 are expected to:
You should expect the authorities to prioritize digital enforcement, with centralized reporting and data-sharing between labor and tax offices. For scaling startups and IT employers, these developments mean more transparency—but also more scrutiny.
C-level, HR, and mobility leaders at tech businesses are facing new growth pains in 2026. Based on years of advising Series B/C companies in this market, here’s what works:
The EWS Limited team specializes in such strategic advice and all-in-one support, helping you streamline workforce expansion into Turkey and 100+ global markets. For more tips on building a globally compliant and growth-oriented HR system, pick up our guide to scalable HR strategy for international expansion.
I believe 2026 offers a strategic window for international companies to secure top Turkish talent while the market remains accessible and flexible. With updated knowledge of contract requirements, true payroll costs, and the value of EOR models, you can avoid legal risks and stay ahead of emerging labor rules. Companies that invest in compliance and strong onboarding succeed fastest in this market.
If you seek reliable, end-to-end support for hiring in Turkey, EWS Limited connects you with guidance and tools you can trust.
Let’s make your expansion in Turkey not just possible, but a game changer. Reach out to us at EWS Limited to discuss tailored EOR services, payroll solutions, and contract templates. With our help, your Turkish hiring will be set up for growth and future-proof compliance.
Hiring costs in Turkey in 2026 include gross base salary, social security contributions of about 20.5% (employer share), 2% unemployment insurance, mandatory severance accruals, and origin-specific benefits. For most hires, total employer costs are about 25–30% above advertised gross wages due to tax and insurance obligations. Engineering and IT salaries generally start from 30,000 TRY/month, while legal minimum wage is expected to top 19,000 TRY/month. EOR services typically add a 8-14% fee over total payroll, but simplify compliance.
To comply with Turkish employment law in 2026, use written contracts in Turkish, register hires with the social security agency, pay all premiums and taxes on time, detail statutory leave and benefits, and adhere to maximum working hours (45 per week). Avoid misclassifying workers and rely on local legal guidance to ensure contract templates meet current rules. Engage support from specialist providers like EWS Limited for extra assurance.
An EOR (Employer of Record) is a third party that becomes the legal employer of your Turkish team members, handling payroll, taxes, benefits, and compliance while you direct their day-to-day work. This model lets you hire locally without incorporating or running a Turkish entity, lowering risks, speeding onboarding, and reducing compliance headaches.
Yes, using a Turkish EOR makes sense for companies without a local presence or those hiring a small team. EORs streamline compliance, save setup costs, handle payroll and benefits, and protect you from misclassification or registration risks. For first hires, project-based roles, or rapid market testing, an EOR approach is practical and secure.
To draft an employment contract in Turkey, use the Turkish language and include job title, location, start date, salary (gross, TRY), working hours, probation, notice, and benefit terms. Include details on annual leave, termination rights, and statutory obligations. For remote roles, add clauses for home office, technology, and cost reimbursement. Always follow updated legal templates and secure a legal review for accuracy.
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