Remote Tech Talent Report

We surveyed more than 1,400 global hiring managers who are trying to find and recruit skilled knowledge workers. Insights from this research, combined with Remote’s in-house expertise in global employment, are distilled here into practical advice for employers who want to attract and retain the best tech talent in the world.

Download the Remote Tech Talent Report

Uncovering the world’s best hidden tech talent

Get firsthand insight from more than 1,400 executives and hiring managers from organisations across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Remote’s Tech Talent Report survey asked respondents about key considerations of hiring in emerging tech talent hubs around the world. We wanted to uncover perceived obstacles and misconceptions that may be preventing employers from uncovering hidden tech talent. As companies feel the economic squeeze around the world, it’s never been more critical to find and retain the right people to stay competitive.

Nearly two-thirds of hiring managers are planning to hire remotely and are considering both global and domestic markets to find the skills they need.

It’s great news that more companies are turning to remote hiring. But there’s one key question left, and our report offers some potential answers. As competition intensifies for knowledge workers and the business climate becomes less certain…

Are HR leaders looking for tech talent in the wrong places?

Those open to exploring new markets outside of saturated technology hubs stand the best chance of finding underappreciated pockets of remote tech talent.
This report demonstrates that ambitious organizations open to building globally distributed teams can take advantage of an unexplored opportunity — and it’s not as hard as you might imagine.

What are the key challenges of global tech recruitment?

Get firsthand insight from more than 1,400 executives and hiring managers from organizations across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

This 2022 survey asked respondents about key considerations of hiring in existing talent hotspots like New York, London, and Tokyo, as well as 15 emerging tech talent hubs spread across the world.

Our survey found that hiring managers are apprehensive about staying compliant.

38%

More than a third of all respondents say they feel challenged about learning local legal requirements for hiring in new regions.

Download the report to learn how easy it can be to reap the benefits of international employment with speed, security, and minimal risk.

What you’ll learn

The state of global tech talent recruitment and why some hiring managers are reluctant to hire internationally

Analysis of 15 emerging tech hubs and what specialist skills to look for in each market

Insight into global compensation and how to develop equitable salaries, benefits, and stock option plans

The processes needed to enable high-performing remote workers, with resources and advice on how to build a globally distributed team

Find out how remote-first recruiting can give you the advantage

Early adopters are in the best position to achieve long-term results by looking in emerging tech hubs. For those HR managers who adopt a remote-first recruiting strategy and mindset, these new markets hold untapped potential and, very likely, provide a competitive advantage.

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Businesses are hiring remotely  for tech talent

The state of global tech talent recruitment and why some hiring managers are reluctant to hire internationally

Emerging tech hubs offer competitive advantages

Insight into global compensation and how to develop equitable salaries, benefits, and stock option plans

Real and perceived obstacles  to hiring internationally

The processes needed to enable high-performing remote workers, with resources and advice on how to build a globally distributed team

Overcoming barriers  to global hiring

Analysis of 15 emerging tech hubs and what specialist skills to look for in each market

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Expert global recruitment insight 01

Businesses are hiring remotely for tech talent

Talent is everywhere. There’s a lot of opportunity to tap into emerging hubs to find top-of-the-line hidden gems in places most employers would typically overlook. In this current landscape, forward thinking companies are taking a conservative, cost-effective approach by hiring remote talent from these emerging centers.

Ilya Brotzky, CEO at VanHack

01

HR managers are getting comfortable with global recruitment

65%

of hiring managers surveyed in the US, the UK, and Europe are looking to hire globally for tech talent.

Because remote work is now an embedded part of global work lives, hiring managers no longer feel constrained by their national borders to find tech talent.

02

Global hiring is part of a larger strategy

20%

of hiring managers say they’re experiencing a tech talent crunch at home, most of the drivers for hiring internationally are entirely strategic.

48%

Want to diversify their team

45%

Want to try out new markets strategically

36%

Were enabled by the pandemic to broaden their search for talent

The opportunity for building capability has expanded beyond specific roles or skill sets. HR managers are considering all the benefits to a remote-first strategy.

Expert global recruitment insight 02

Emerging tech hubs offer competitive advantages

You can often attract another country’s top tier talent that might not be accessible in your local market because of the level of competition. Tech professionals located outside of the established saturated hubs are more responsive to established organizations offering globally competitive compensation. This type of job opportunity can be life changing for international candidates and their families, especially in developing nations. You’ll see increased motivation and loyalty in return.

Brett Jones, Co-founder at OFFERZEN

Most hiring managers are still looking at home

The majority of respondents are still looking for new talent in their own country.

USA

68%

63%

France

61%

Germany

59%

Sweden

57%

Netherlands

52%

A domestic focus is fine, but it also means hiring managers are failing to tap into rich candidate pools in both traditional and emerging tech hubs.

International hiring is occurring in saturated markets

When venturing into global markets, hiring managers are sticking to existing tech talent hubs in large percentages.

London

83%

Paris

80%

Berlin

79%

New York City

79%

With so many people looking in the same places for the same roles, traditional tech hubs are becoming highly competitive.

London

Huge base of tech talent combined with intense demand and very high pay expectations.

Berlin

One of the smaller tech hubs in Europe comes with less competition and lower average salaries.

New York City

A large talent pool is matched by big demand for tech skills in New York, adding up to a highly competitive market.

San Francisco

The highest volume of elite tech talent comes coupled with the highest pay costs of all.

Tokyo

Lower employment costs and pay expectations, but the time difference poses problems for some organisations.

Emerging tech hubs present new opportunities

Gartner® Inc.’s recent report, Emerging IT Talent Hubs in 2022 provides insights into the “top existing and emerging IT talent hubs”. This research analysed 120 cities in 28 countries for 15 key IT roles.

We have taken a closer look at those locations and found that hiring managers said they were very likely or somewhat likely to hire in the following areas:

Melbourne

66%

Mexico City

65%

Helsinki

64%

Budapest

63%

Warsaw

62%

Rio de Janeiro

60%

While some of these emerging cities are clearly growing in demand with hiring managers, they still aren’t as popular as the well-known — and highly competitive — traditional tech hubs.

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Mexico City, Mexico

65%

Snapshot: A booming startup and fintech scene is fostering a growing community of tech talent.

Top motivator for hiring: Giving opportunities to new talent

Budapest, Hungary

63%

Snapshot: Thriving tech scene and a moderate supply-demand ratio

Top motivator for hiring: Diversify our team and try out new markets

Johannesburg,  South Africa

59%

Snapshot: Affordable salaries, Europe-friendly timezone, and an established tech sector make Johannesburg a top pick.

Top motivator for hiring: Diversification

Kolkata, India

47%

Snapshot: Affordable salaries combined with a massive population make Kolkata a serious consideration for tech talent

Top motivator for hiring: Diversification and entering new markets

Expert global recruitment insight 03

Real and perceived obstacles to hiring internationally

We're seeing salaries rise globally as employers expand their talent pools and candidates find more opportunities outside their backyards. To ride out this storm of uncertainty, we recommend a shift from hyper-growth to more efficient growth. Be responsive and attentive to what's important to employees, stay the course on DEI initiatives, and continue to nurture your employer brand.

Josh Brenner, CEO at Hired_

01

Not having a legal entity is seen as a major barrier to global hiring

Many companies rely on having a legal entity for remote hiring.

Overall, 33% of respondents say they won’t hire globally without one.

Challenges businesses face when hiring in new regions

40%

Language barriers

36%

Managing and merging work in different cultures

35%

Working across time zones

34%

Learning about local legal requirements

31%

Learning about local payroll regulations

26%

Understanding local benefits packages

23%

Managing payroll

Working with an EOR makes hiring abroad simple and secure

Making adjustments that are currently outside your comfort zone are worth it for the right talent. Knowing where to find untapped tech talent pools that fit into your budget is the first step. Hiring, onboarding, and managing those people requires a change in mindset.

An Employer of Record (EOR) like Remote allows you to legally hire abroad. Remote owns local legal entities across the globe to employ on your behalf, managing payroll, benefits, and taxation to keep your company compliant and competitive in every market.

02

Legal requirements and cultural fit a concern for hiring managers

Hiring managers who do plan to hire tech talent in new regions are concerned about two main areas of remote work — how to legally employ people and how to successfully manage culture across a geographically diverse team.

Legal requirements

The survey shows hiring managers are apprehensive about staying compliant when hiring outside of their own country. It’s a real concern, but a navigable one for companies serious about onboarding the right talent.

34%

show hesitance to learning local legal requirements for hiring

31%

worry about learning about local payroll regulations.

26%

say understanding local benefits packages is a challenge they don’t want to take on.

23%

are concerned about managing payroll.

Working culture

The report shows HR managers are deeply concerned about inclusive hiring practices and how a globally remote team can successfully work together, both for the benefit of each employee and the company as a whole.

40%

overcoming language  barriers

36%

merging different work and management cultures into a single, productive team

35%

working across time zones

Expert global recruitment insight 04

Overcoming barriers
to global hiring

The benefit of international hiring is obvious and compelling – you can suddenly open up access to the world's very best talent. Crucially, you can also develop truly a diverse team. Value-based recruitment provides the foundation for lasting success here. Leaders who seek out new team members with shared values can build an inclusive, equitable, and trusting environment that empowers a global team to thrive.

Anastasia Pshegodskaya, Director of Talent Acquisition. Remote

01 Experienced remote tech professionals are spread across the world

Knowledge workers transition to working in remote teams with relative ease as long as you take a globally inclusive approach to recruitment. Great candidates are all over the world, but it takes a new remote-first hiring strategy to acquire their skills.

Action

Hire a global workforce legally and compliantly with ease

Hiring remote tech talent doesn’t have to be complicated. As the most trusted EOR in the business, Remote eliminates the need for you to have your own entity in each location — an expensive undertaking that can inhibit your ability to scale your operation. Remote provides the confidence you need to be sure you:

have the right contracts
be compliant with local labor laws and tax regulations
classify your employees and contractors correctly

You can hire people all over the world with Remote legally, easily, and quickly. You can even offer your international employees stock options in your business using Remote’s platform!

02 There is no one-size-fits-all global compensation plan

Scaling your team globally can provide enormous benefits, but HR managers must clear a few hurdles when developing remote compensation plans to foster a high-functioning international workforce.

Employees quickly discover if you’re underpaying them compared to their colleagues and international market rates, but it’s not as simple as paying everyone the same.
Benefits packages also require nuance between different geographies.
People with the same education, skills, and experience should have access to the same lifestyle and disposable income in their country of residence.

Action

Offer competitive pay and benefits packages

Remote’s global employment platform saves you time, money, and effort by creating country-specific benefits packages at highly negotiated prices. You can offer equitable, best-in-class benefits to your employees for a fraction of the cost of navigating things on your own or establishing a legal entity. You can even offer stock options to your international workforce.

03 Asynchronous work is the key to globally successful teams

Asynchronous (async) working enables a globally distributed team to maximize productivity regardless of time zones. Performance is measured by what work has been done, not which people worked at which times. The ability to work with autonomy and flexibility is a compelling incentive for the world’s most talented and experienced tech professionals.

Many of these potential employees have years of experience delivering productively in a fully remote work environment.

Action

Build intentional remote-first work practices

An async work environment requires increased communication and documentation which, in turn, leads to higher employee morale and higher productivity.

Three pillars of async work

Multiplexing

Breaking work into smaller tasks to facilitate more work being completed while reducing bottlenecks.

Communication

Adopting best-practice standards on documentation and embracing messaging over calls/meetings.

Action

Empowering your team to use their best judgement to act instead of waiting for direction.

04 Async work removes multiple barriers to global work

An async way of working directly addresses many of the barriers holding hiring managers back from taking the plunge to working remotely. Intentionally inclusive work practices encourage diversity and allow a truly globally distributed team to flourish.

Skilled remote tech professionals are actively seeking roles where life-work balance is encouraged. That means employers can enable remote workers anywhere to work on the schedule that suits their timezone and lifestyle.

Apart from attracting top remote talent, building the processes to manage a globally distributed team will maximize productivity while boosting staff retention rates.

Establish inclusive policies to build efficiency and connexion

Improve communication  and documentation

Team communication is improved using good documentation, dispensing with real-time meetings and phone calls in favour of messaging and respecting uninterrupted work time.

Managing multiple time zones

Async working also benefits a global workforce by ensuring around-the-clock effort. Because communication is not expected to be immediate, workers can arrange their day to best suit individual productivity and lifestyle.

Acknowledge language barriers

English is the unofficial language of technology and the most widely spoken language in the world. Async workflows can be beneficial to multilingual teams by giving non-native speakers time to read and reply in their second language. Some roles in your team don’t require team members to be conversationally fluent to produce outstanding work using an async way of working.

Building team culture

Working async gives every person on your team an equal opportunity to participate and contribute, regardless of where they live and work. This fluid way of working creates a new rhythm for your team which increases trust, improves productivity and contributes to an environment of psychological safety.

Employ with Remote

Intentional remote-first work practices and async workflows facilitate innovation and maximize the productivity of your global team. While it takes discipline to develop good documentation and move away from real-time workflows, the benefits far outweigh the downsides of the traditional, synchronous way of working.
In the process of developing those documentation assets, you can transform your organization into one ready for the future of work. Diversity brings significant long-term advantages and a culture of inclusion baked into the fabric of your company.

Remote can help you remove the complexity of managing compliance with international legislation.

Setting up local entities abroad is almost always cost and time prohibitive. We establish our entities to meet the highest standards of compliance so you can grow your global footprint with confidence.

About this study

Remote surveyed a total of 1,485 decision-makers in each of six key markets who self-identified as currently hiring tech talent. The survey ran between the 9th and 26th of September 2022 in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Each country contributed around 200 respondents to the survey.

How AI pioneer Weaviate grew its workforce 120% with Remote

Reverse Tech's strategic partnership with Remote for contractor management and payroll

EU Pay Transparency Directive: What HR teams need to know

Why smart employers are using tax regimes to win global talent

Start employing anywhere

Remote Tech Talent Report

Uncovering the world’s best hidden tech talent

Are HR leaders looking for tech talent in the wrong places?

What are the key challenges of global tech recruitment?

38%

What you’ll learn

Find out how remote-first recruiting can give you the advantage

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Businesses are hiring remotely for tech talent

01

HR managers are getting comfortable with global recruitment

02

Global hiring is part of a larger strategy

Staying legal and compliant when hiring globally is a concern

Expert global recruitment insight 02

Emerging tech hubs offer competitive advantages

Most hiring managers are still looking at home

68%

63%

61%

59%

57%

52%

International hiring is occurring in saturated markets

83%

80%

79%

79%

71%

68%

With so many people looking in the same places for the same roles, traditional tech hubs are becoming highly competitive.

Emerging tech hubs present new opportunities

66%

65%

64%

63%

62%

60%

Snapshot of unexplored emerging tech markets around the world

Download the Remote Tech Talent Report

Real and perceived obstacles to hiring internationally

01

Not having a legal entity is seen as a major barrier to global hiring

Challenges businesses face when hiring in new regions

40%

Language barriers

36%

Managing and merging work in different cultures

35%

Working across time zones

34%

Learning about local legal requirements

31%

Learning about local payroll regulations

26%

Understanding local benefits packages

23%

Managing payroll

Working with an EOR makes hiring abroad simple and secure

02

Legal requirements and cultural fit a concern for hiring managers

Legal requirements

34%

show hesitance to learning local legal requirements for hiring

31%

worry about learning about local payroll regulations.

26%

say understanding local benefits packages is a challenge they don’t want to take on.

23%

are concerned about managing payroll.

Working culture

40%

overcoming language barriers

36%

overcoming language  barriers

Overcoming barriers
to global hiring