It’s very clear to see how hard hiring is in the current market. Coincidentally, a global pandemic last year forced millions of companies to go remote, and many of them have stayed this way. Are the two correlated? Of course they are!

There is an argument that if you go remote, you have access to a global talent pool. This is true, but every other remote company has access too. When an incredibly talented Madeline is evaluating working for several companies remotely, it’s hard for them to differentiate on anything but salary and benefits. It also makes it harder to know that Madeline is looking for a job in the first place.

This is why I am aiming to build an in-person company for the near term. I don’t know how to compete with Google, Facebook, or <insert HOT startup here>’s salary and benefits. But I do know Arizona like the back of my hand. I can meet potential hires and actually recruit! Sell them on the vision, wine and dine them, etc. These activities don’t happen in a remote world, which is why I think everyone is struggling. No one can differentiate and no one can filter.

All that said, I truly do believe that remote is the future over the long tail. The Knowledge Economy allowed this to happen. Now we need companies in the Access Economy to help us filter talent in a way that has never been done before so we can all be remote AND hire well.

In the meantime, I will thoroughly enjoy watching the remote bulls complain about the insane hiring environment. Little do they realize that they were the ones who created it 😂