Rebuilding Remote Work: The Rise of Distributed Teams

by Pablo Baldomá Jones*

The days of packed subway cars, rush hour traffic, and running from your car to a meeting (that we all know should have been an email) are over. Organizations are realizing that tech employees don’t want to work from anywhere, they want to work FROM anywhere, at ANY TIME. 

New York City saw 68% more people leave than move into the city last year. Idaho became the most popular state to move to, with tech companies based in the state hiring like crazy even during COVID times. 

When a workforce doesn’t have a central location, and so many have started to work remotely, what has changed, what do employers need to keep in mind, and how can everyone stay connected?

A Worldwide Talent Pool

Modern employees — especially those who work in tech —don’t want to be sitting in an office for 8 hours a day, with a short time to go grab a sandwich. 

As proof, job postings in tech are becoming increasingly remote, with that up-tick approaching 150% recently. These IT employees are in demand and looking to work outside the confines of traditional offices, without traditional working hours. When developers and software engineers are looking for their next job, they may be in Amsterdam looking at a job in Los Angeles or in Sydney looking at a job in Austin. 

With 4.4 million software developers in the U.S. alone — and that number expected to swell to nearly 29 million worldwide over the next three years — both the talent pool and the demand for specialized talent for short-term projects is only growing. Organizations like yours may need a few data scientists for 6 months to mine data and help leadership make informed decisions, and then perhaps a remote team of Mobile/App developers to build the perfect application across the next 6 months. 

Ensuring the right people are being found, hired, and put to work quickly is critical to your success.

Changing Up the Onboarding Game

Once the employee is hired, they need to understand what is being expected of them. Here’s the thing though — traditional onboarding is boring for the many millennials and recent college graduates, who are tired of their first week at work feeling like their first day of school. Who wants to sit in a conference room and look at a slide deck about the company outing 3 years ago? 

The new mentality is much more “get me what I need, and get me working.” So what can you do to onboard new employees?Many tech companies have suggested things like “welcome boxes,” where employees can get a welcome package sent to their doorstep. Swag, perks, and stickers are an awesome way to welcome modern employees (especially in tech), then let them review an onboarding on their time at their pace. Paid lunches via a delivery service, hoodies, and a snack budget can help make your employees happy wherever they are, whenever they want to work. 

Paying Employees

After finding the employee and making sure they’re onboarded, the payment process needs to be as smooth as possible. This has been a point where even the most forward-thinking organizations have struggled in the past. However, if your organization gets the reputation of being difficult to work for, or be paid by, it will become increasingly difficult to find talent. 

Word gets around, and despite the ever-growing number of software developers, specialized talent pools are often small circles. There are backend things that talent doesn’t concern itself with, but are critical to payments running smoothly. 

Tax compliance, contract creation, and document management are all part of making sure “the trains run on time.” No matter if an employee is expecting to be paid in full for a job, paid monthly, or paid every two weeks, you need to ensure you have the flexibility to handle the expectations of your employees — and that means all of your employees. no matter when or where they work.

As you continue to discover ways to thrive in the new normal, you will face new challenges that aren’t even on your radar yet. Right now, the job market is incredibly hot, and even the most loyal and long-term employees are taking new opportunities and leaving their organizations. 

If you need to help backfill these employees, hire the right person for the right project, and ensure you’re continuing to put out high quality work, Celerative is here to help you find solutions to your unique needs. We’ll help you modernize and refresh your traditional outsourcing processes so you can build your future.

* article written for Celerative Blog