I read all the old replies and this hasn't come up yet.

I worked as a W-2 employee software developer for a few companies, so that's simple enough, but they used employment outsourcing firms (TriNet or Pro Unlimited) that handle payroll, taxes and benefits (and act as a liability shield). Instead of a phone number to call, they offer employment verification services from a third party, "The Work Number service from TALX corporation", to which they outsource their employment verification! (You have to provide some employer identification code).

There is nothing shady going on here, but the level of corporate outsourcing complexity is high, and I don't want to get my application rejected because of choosing the wrong 1 of 3 companies involved.

More detail:
I worked for 2 companies X and Y.

Company X was a startup that has been out of business for a few years, and they used Trinet HR corporation to manage HR benefits and that is who is listed on my W-2 forms. For employment verification Trinet uses the work number with an employer code. My options are to 1) put down the startup business address with the now defunct number, 2) put down TriNet address from my W-2 and their corporate phone number and hope that the Global Entry people can get some sort of employment verification (no idea if this is valid) 3) Put down some "The Work Number a service of TALX Corporation" automated phone line number and hope the Global Entry people can use my SSN to find me (don't want to risk it).

Company Y is a large company concerned about employee liability, so I was not allowed to say I worked there, but was working there as a "consultant" paid as a W-2 employee of Pro Unlimited. So I can't list company Y as my employer. So my options are similar: 1) put down Pro Unlimited address from my W-2 and their corporate phone number and hope that the Global Entry people can get some sort of employment verification 2) Put down some "The Work Number a service of TALX Corporation" automated phone line number and hope the Global Entry people can use my SSN to find me.

I'm going to call the Global Entry customer service line and see if I can get any insight (and I will post it here), but if anyone else has encountered anything like this in our modern outsourced HR world, I would love to hear from you. Thank you!