More and more, software developers around the world are looking to work on their terms. Consequently, both the supply and demand for remote workers have been growing very fast.
This approach has given rise to new forms of management, and new kinds of teams that take advantage of the potential offered by remote work.
Organizations such as Gitlab, Invision, and Zapier, among many others, have experienced remarkable levels of success by adopting a remote-only policy for their workers. Such roles suit developers, in particular, due to the nature of the work. Any work and supervision can take place seamlessly from a distance.
In this article, we look at how hiring remote developers can help you build a stronger, more robust, more diverse, and more productive team.
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You Have Access To The World’s Talents
Hiring remotely gives you access to a global talent pool. You no longer have to limit yourself to just the candidates who are in your immediate geographic area. And the nature of development work makes this easy to do with remote hiring. That’s why developer roles are already one of the most popular remote jobs, and the current numbers will grow by 26% by 2026.
Hiring remotely is ideal for companies looking to grow the number of developers who work for them. But rather than limiting your options to people who are you can widen your horizons to give yourself the best opportunity to land the best candidates.
By increasing the pool of potential talent, you are far more likely to find someone who ticks all the boxes. The other option is to settle on the next best local candidate and sacrifice some of your ideal requirements. With remote developers, you no longer have to do this.
Read More: 40+ Best Upwork Alternatives & Freelance Websites for Your Next Project
You Can Build A More Diverse Team
There are various misconceptions about teamwork suffering when remote developers join, but the opposite is often true. When you consider applicants from different parts of the world, it provides several decided advantages.
For one, you are more likely to land people from different backgrounds, countries, and cultures. This type of diversity can unearth a range of skills and specialist knowledge from a potentially new and improved perspective. It will help you integrate different points of view into your products and processes, which will help you deliver better solutions.
Last, but not least, it is a legal requirement across many countries to have equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. Building a diverse team can not only help your organization attract the best talent but also benefit your brand’s reputation when it comes to reaching a broader audience.
We discuss other common benefits of building diverse teams in more detail below.
You can also try Arc, your shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:
⚡️ Access 350,000 top developers, designers, and marketers
⚡️ Vetted and ready to interview
⚡️ Freelance or full-time
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Unlock untapped technical talent
Many talented developers choose to work remotely because of personal circumstances. The reality is that the best developers may not be the ones who want, or are able, to come into an office for fixed hours every day. In particular, some workers are better able to work from the comfort of (or specialized setup available at) their own home, including:
- parents
- people with disabilities
- people in caregiver roles
Another potential source of untapped talent is people returning to the workforce after a career break. These people may have the exact skill set you’re looking for, but just need to be matched with an organization with the right processes and mindset. Hiring remotely means you can include developers who only work from home in your pool of candidates.
Studies show that the number of people choosing to go remote is consistently rising – 73% of remote workers only started working remotely in the past 4 years. If this trend continues, overlooking remote candidates during the recruitment process will put your business at a clear disadvantage.
In the war for the best of technical talent, workplaces that offer flexibility have a clear advantage when it comes to hiring. Smart managers make sure they’re the ones in the position to grab this talent.
Read More: 9+ Project Management Tools for Managing & Working With Developers
Healthier Working Environments
Many industry-leading companies have a diverse mix of personalities. The added flexibility that remote working brings reduces workplace tension and enables people with different character traits to thrive.
Some employees might be shy or introverted by nature and feel a lot more comfortable communicating virtually. Others may prefer remaining quiet during a meeting, thinking about the information presented, then offering their ideas at a later time.
For virtual communications, there’s a range of useful tools available, including Slack, Zoom, and Trello, to streamline communication. As such, you won’t drown out reserved staff members but will increase the level of confidence in their contributions.
And let’s not forget that having a flexible working schedule is the number one factor of importance for developers. By hiring remotely, you can provide your people with more flexibility, which will contribute to greater happiness and lower stress.
Better Service Offering
When you employ a diverse mix of people, it can significantly strengthen your service offering. Language skills, for example, are invaluable to companies that have an international client base.
Different ages, genders, backgrounds, and cultures also offer an array of different viewpoints. These team members may have a new perspective on a problem due to their cultural background, or have insights on how a product might be used in a certain part of the world.
Clearly, these viewpoints can be a great asset when it comes to launching your products across new markets. The insider knowledge that a diverse team can bring to the table goes a long way in helping you avoid having blind spots.
Read More: Good Developers Don’t Always Make Good *Freelance* Developers
Less Workplace Bias
Remote working places a high value on the actual work staff deliver. It limits a range of detrimental biases, including potential biases towards physical appearance, disability, age, etc. This helps to create a level employment playing field that makes all of your team members feel valued.
At the same time, this level of value and trust helps all employees feel a much greater degree of personal responsibility for the work.
Studies show that companies with the highest levels of gender diversity at an executive level are 21% more likely to have above-average profitability. Dynamic teams, as a result, can positively impact your organization’s bottom line.
You Can Increase Productivity
The effects of remote working on productivity can be huge. A 2-year study showed that the productivity levels of people working remotely totaled the equivalent of a full day of work.
Not everyone works the same way. Some people prefer to stay up late into the night and do their best work under the cover of darkness. Others find their brains work better early in the morning and rise with the sun. Regardless of your preferred methods, remote working can allow people to work at the rhythm — and place — that suits them best.
If you have genuine concerns about the productivity aspect of going remote, there are ideas of methods to objectively measure it to ensure it’s working out for you. This is a great thing to do to make sure that you’re on track to reaching your business goals.
That said, build a team of great remote workers, give them trust and confidence, and chances are there’s no need to monitor their productivity — the results will speak for themselves.
Read More: How to Create a Software Development Workflow for Freelance Hires
You Don’t Need To Convince Or Pay People To Relocate
In the past, when a company needed a highly-skilled developer, they often offered a relocation package as an incentive. They did that in the hope that it would entice the best talent to join them.
That’s okay if you have a sizeable budget that can cover relocation costs. But what if your ideal candidate has no interest in moving? What if your company is based in a city that candidates don’t find particularly attractive to live in?
Newer lean methodologies encourage you to have as much flexibility as possible in order to remain competitive. Hiring remotely allows you to sidestep all the relocation trouble, and reach the best talent hassle-free!
There won’t be any relocation costs or the need to convince candidates that they’ll love life in your office.
You Can Cover More Working Hours
Hiring remotely can facilitate the process of extending your operational hours throughout the day. Your employees can work outside office hours without the need to be physically present on company premises. As a result, customers with urgent inquiries can benefit from additional support availability.
In addition, you can get more work done around the clock since your team can work across different time zones. In this scenario, although one of your developers might be signing out for the day in one location, another developer is just starting in another.
Evidence shows that employees working for companies with no main time zone have better relationships with their colleagues. In consequence, these companies tend to be more productive and have lower employee turnover.
If your company always has at least some developers online regardless of the time, that means you can set up procedures for emergency situations. If something breaks down, there will always be at least someone able to take care of it.
Read More: How to Create a Remote Work Culture That’s Supportive, Positive & Fun
What Are You Waiting For?
Remote work continues to grow from strength to strength, which comes as no surprise.
With access to a much larger talent pool, companies can build diverse teams and gain many benefits in the process. These include hitting diversity policy goals, better working environments, improved services, and less workplace bias.
As such, it’s easy to see why companies that value the diversity that remote working allows can be more dynamic and productive. This extra flexibility and availability can have an impact on customer service, which ties back to performance.
This adds to the mountain of evidence in support of hiring remotely to build stronger teams. The only question left to ask is: what are you waiting for?
You can also try Arc, your shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:
⚡️ Access 350,000 top developers, designers, and marketers
⚡️ Vetted and ready to interview
⚡️ Freelance or full-time
