30% of US businesses are engaging talent from anywhere in the world for hard-to-fill remote tech roles, new research reveals

Remote, an organization specializing in building, managing, and supporting global, distributed workforces, has published a new report analyzing the state of the global tech talent market.

Remote commissioned the report, which gathered insights from 1,485 remote hiring decision-makers across the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK to examine how, where, and why companies are hiring beyond their borders for remote roles. Interviews were conducted by Focaldata in September 2022 using an email invitation and an online survey.

According to Remote’s research, US businesses are the most likely to exclusively recruit locally, even for all-remote roles, when compared with all surveyed regions. However, 30% of US businesses say they are looking for talent anywhere to fill those roles.

“In just the last few years, businesses have been able to realize the benefits of hiring knowledge workers abroad without the complexity of setting up their own infrastructure,” said Job van der Voort, CEO and Co-Founder, Remote.

Some of the survey’s most notable global findings include:

    1. While 65% of hiring managers worldwide are responsible for hiring internationally, only 36% are actively looking to global markets
    2. When asked about motivations for hiring internationally, diversifying teams was the top reason cited by global hiring managers (58%). The opportunity to enter new markets strategically was also cited by 52% of decision-makers
    3. Thirty-nine percent of global respondents felt the pandemic allowed them to broaden their search for talent. And for those considering global recruitment, nearly two-thirds (68%) said giving people the opportunity to build a career without having to move to another country was a benefit

When asked why they recruit globally, these companies are most likely to cite strategic reasons like diversifying teams (64%), entering new markets (61%), and remote work having enabled companies to hire anywhere (50%).

When hiring global talent, insights show US businesses are looking in a mix of existing and emerging tech hubs, the most likely of which are London (75%), Mexico City (70%), as well as Melbourne, Tokyo, and Paris (67%).