Back in 2015, I was a creative director at an agency. I admired this art director so much, and I wanted him to work in my team. I closely watched him and waited for the perfect opportunity to hire him. It finally arrived: our team grew, and coincidentally we needed someone with his style. So I got in touch and offered him an interview. As we ironed out the meeting details, we realized we were in two different cities, 9 hours apart. The negotiations fell through, and we never got a chance to work together.
If that happened in 2023, it wouldn't really be a problem, would it? We have gotten so used to working remotely that the story I just told you sounds like it happened in the 90s.
The thing is, when people talk about the benefits of remote work, they usually focus on the savings in time and money for the lack of a commute or how we get to spend more time with our families. And that's all fine, but we often ignore the real superpower of remote work: your talent pool becomes unlimited.
Nowadays, you don't have to "settle" for whoever is available in your city. You can shape your team with the exact profiles you need, no matter the distance. You can hire that art director who lives 9 hours away if he is the perfect fit for the project.
And yes, I know that larger cities have a vast and top-notch talent pool. But not everything happens in N.Y., L.A., or London. And, believe it or not, many people are moving away from those cities after the pandemic. Mexico City is an excellent example of a city that concentrates the top talent in the advertising industry but is losing many people quickly. So, those huge talent pools will most likely dissolve over time, making it even harder to get precisely the team you need just with people who live in your city.
Many people still believe that remote work is just a trend. But let me tell you some anecdotal information that reveals much of what's happening. As a part of my work with The Satellite Agency, I'm constantly talking to ad agency owners or principals who are testing the waters of hiring remote international talent. Let me tell you, some of these agencies are having a hard time getting their employees to go back to the office; others decided to go fully remote, while others opened shop during the lockdown and have their team (even the principals) scattered over different cities and even countries. This new breed of agencies understands that the geographic gap has been bridged by technology, and going fully remote is not a gamble anymore.
And guess what? Those agencies are succeeding. Why? Because they can assemble tailored super teams without worrying about geographical barriers.
In a nutshell: Remote work is about working with whoever you want, not only with people who live 45 away from the office.
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