Unless you’re Elon Musk and your company is a tech giant like Twitter, you probably cannot afford to let senior software engineers go just because they were critical of you on social media or in company Slack channels. In fact, the general sentiment on Twitter seems to indicate even Musk can’t afford to lose so many experienced engineers.
Some people are just watching and waiting for the tech company to implode after Musk’s seemingly indiscriminate firing spree. After all, there is still a global tech talent shortage.
Indeed, McKinsey is correct in its findings that organisations are experiencing or about to face skill gaps, particularly in data analytics, information technology and mobile/web design and management.
Gartner concurs. Its study reveals that IT executives cite the lack of tech talent as the primary barrier to adopting emerging technologies.
Therefore, unless you’re a billionaire like Musk, who can obviously afford to let senior software engineers go, you are probably facing a tech talent pinch yourself — the sudden availability of veteran Twitter engineers on the job market notwithstanding.
After all, unless you’re a big-name tech company or a unicorn start-up with a sky-high hiring budget, your chance of getting these newly let-go engineers to work for you is presumably little to none.
However, one way you might find it easier to fill your open tech roles is to hire remote workers.
Hiring a Global Remote Workforce
If there ever was a silver lining to the pandemic, it’s this: Companies had to let their employees work from home. It didn’t bear thinking about the alternative, which, for most, was ceasing business operations.
The pandemic showed organisations that a remotely distributed workforce could collaborate and work together effectively. Likewise, the tools and technologies required to bridge the physical distances among remote employees also matured and improved, their development fuelled by the unprecedented need and demand for them.
Indeed, it is now more than ever — as the world emerges from the two years of physical distancing and forced remote staffing — that business organisations are technologically equipped and beyond ready to work with remotely distributed teams.
Therefore, if you find filling vacancies and open roles challenging, perhaps you should take a leaf out of the pandemic company’s playbook and go remote.
Instead of focusing all your energies and resources on finding an engineer within your region, county or city, why don’t you look further afield, say, overseas? Your company may be in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but that doesn’t mean you must hire employees in Dubai or even the UAE.
Some enterprises indeed need employees onsite. For instance, if you are an upstream oil company, sure, you need people on the ground to do fieldwork. If you are a manufacturer of rubber shoes, you need people on the factory floor.
However, even in such companies, some roles do not require everyone’s physical presence. A data analyst, as long as he has the tools and data, can perform his work for a UAE oil company or shoe factory even when he is in Florence, Italy.
Tech companies should even have more leeway than other types of organisations. A developer should be able to work in the company’s code repository wherever they may be.
Indeed, if you want to alleviate tech talent shortages, look for technology recruitment services and explore the possibility of putting together a globally distributed remote workforce. Imagine your technical architect in Spain, full-stack developer in the Philippines, DevOps engineer in Greece, QA engineer in Ireland, and product manager in Dubai. Your employees don’t need to be in the same room to work together. For the times when they do need to talk, there’s Zoom (or a similar platform).
The Benefits of Having a Remote Global Team
There are benefits to distributing your team across the globe.
1. Work Around Geographical Talent Shortages
There may be a worldwide tech talent shortage, but the scarcity can be graver or less severe depending on the specific location. If you set your sights overseas, you can work around the dearth of local talent. Think of this strategy as fishing in a different pool when your home pool has been depleted.
2. Gain Access to Global Talent
Some talented engineers abroad are probably unwilling to uproot themselves and their families to work for your company. These are more likely to apply for a job at your organisation if you allow them to remain where they are.
For this reason, hiring remotely can expand your talent pool.
3. Save on Costs
A remote team means you won’t need to rent more space so that you can install more workspaces. You won’t need to add more bathrooms and stock up on more consumables (e.g., pantry items and office supplies). In short, you can minimise your operational expenses.
Hiring employees from different places in the world can also help you save on salaries. You must pay a premium when hiring employees who live in expensive locations. You can save on this cost when hiring employees from less pricey cities.
4. Ensure Redundancy
A globally distributed workforce also means different time zones. While you sleep in Dubai, some employees may just be about to log in to work. You can ensure your company’s 24/7 availability and customer support with a carefully planned remote team acquisition.
Build a Global Remote Team
The pandemic has shown that organisations can thrive on having a remote workforce.
Given the tech talent shortage, companies should set their recruitment sights beyond their geographical borders. They should work with an IT staffing agency to build a fully remote, globally distributed team.
Also Read: 7 Tips for Victoriously Managing Remote Employees in 2021
