The Tech Talent Wars

⚡ The ‘Tech Talent Wars’ Edition ⚡

Radically Remote is LinkedIn’s largest community for remote leaders who want to stay on the pulse but don't have time for a snoozefest. Every 2 weeks we bring you the latest global news, trends & insights on hiring, managing & working remotely.

By Andrew Allen and Carla Dewing

🃏 Is return-to-office the joker card in your tech career?

Play it right and you’ll unlock unprecedented growth, earnings and freedom.

Turns out the ‘end of remote work as you know it’ is actually a golden opportunity you'd be a fool to ignore.

90% of US companies are embracing RTO by the end of 2024. A lot of remote workers aren't happy. But if you think these mandates are the WORST thing to ever happen in your career, you’re dead wrong.

Return to office (RTO) comes with an unexpected career boost. The one you didn’t know you needed.

The talent wars are raging – but which side are you on?

Tech giants' push to end remote work is driving top talent to flexible, innovative startups. This move could backfire on them in a big way.

Instead of being shackled by outdated corporate norms, you could find yourself at the forefront of the next big thing in tech, leading the charge in an industry-wide power shift.

It’s happening right now!

🤝 As Big Tech plays its RTO card, the best and brightest tech professionals are recognizing the HUGE opportunities waiting at remote-first companies.

This article takes a deep dive into what RTO means for remote workers, and the decisions you should make to get ahead in your tech career.

🚀 Read How RTO Mandates Elevate Your Tech Career 🚀

Brush up on what the top minds in tech know that you don’t:

• Top Talent Exodus: University of Chicago and Michigan studies show a massive brain drain as top talent leaves Big Tech for remote-friendly startups.
• RTO as a Soft Layoff: RTO mandates are a subtle way for Big Tech to reduce headcount without the backlash of traditional layoffs.
• The Flexibility Divide: 88% of tech companies with fewer than 500 employees offer full flexibility, while only 35% of companies with 25,000 employees do the same. But which to pick?
• Your Career Boost: Working remotely at a startup can accelerate your career, offering more growth, innovation, and work-life balance compared to big tech firms. Evidence doesn’t lie.

This is the ace up your sleeve you’ve been waiting for.

Ready to turn the tables on RTO?

🎯 Read it Now! 🎯

🎬 The Latest Episode ⚡ Ft. Laurel Farrer

Isolation. Connection. Productivity. Belonging.

Remote work sounds like a mess of endless problems, right?

Wrong. There’s only ONE real issue.

Everyone from the media to Silicon Valley CEOs loves to bash remote work, blaming its supposed flaws for making it unworkable.

Why think critically when you can just label remote work as the villain? Especially when the actual problem is this HUGE.

This week, one of my favorite remote work experts is back on Out of Office to help me uncover the real challenges facing distributed teams.

Ready to become the change agent your team needs?

Watch it now 👇

She’s a prodigious Forbes contributor, a past LinkedIn Top Voice in Remote Work, and has consulted for top tech companies like Microsoft and Zoom.

It’s returning remote work expert Laurel Farrer!

Laurel's DONE with tired excuses from tech leaders who should know better.

It’s time to set the record straight!

In episode 62, Laurel and I uncover the often-overlooked management problems that mess up remote work. Plus, we give you strategies to ensure this hidden issue never troubles your team again.

What’s Inside?

☑️ Join us as we crush outdated remote work myths (+Explore their history!)

☑️ Boost team mojo with four remote management pillars (Solves that stick)

☑️ See how AI will revolutionize your role as a remote leader (+Why)

📈 Featured Guest

Laurel Farrer is a leading remote work expert focused on people operations. Her innovative strategies are transforming workplaces, from startups to Fortune 500 companies, making work from anywhere a reality.

She’s a thought leader featured in Forbes, The New York Times, BBC and Fast Company. She also consults for major tech brands like Microsoft and Zoom. No wonder she is on the 2024 Top 150 Remote Influencer List.

Connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram, or visit her business website here.

⭐ Get the latest episodes of OOO here!

⭐ Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

⭐ Be a guest on Out of Office! Apply Here.

💻 Top Jobs ⚡ The Latest Fully Remote Jobs

• VP of Operations, Trilogy - $200,000 USD/year
• Senior Telco Project Director, Totogi - $200,000 USD/year
• Senior Mobile Engineer, gt.school - $100,000 USD/year

🏁 Prepare for The Ride of Your Career. Get Your Remote Job Now. 🏁

📰 Breaking News ⚡ This Week in Remote Work

Remote Workers Flock to Disneyland to Work Among the Magic

• One remote worker has been there for two years and loves it.

 ADP Research Institute Releases Report on Remote Management Hubs

•  Turns out Philadelphia is the 4th largest for managing remote workers.

 A German Bank Chooses Remote Work Over New Offices

• Bundesbank lets workers spend 60% of their time working from home.

 Walmart Has Spoken: Relocate or Get Laid Off

• They claim it’s to bring more people together more often (lies).

 QZ Reports on Dell Dolling Out Red Flags to RTO Resistant Employees

• Workers better get to the office soon or be next-level micro-managed.

👱🏻 Ask Andrew ⚡ Answers to Your Questions

💌 Send your questions here!

This Week's Question is From Eeshani from Colombo, Sri Lanka:

“Does age matter for remote jobs?”

My Answer:

"Hey Eeshani,

I can answer that in one word: "nope".

And it's not just remotely: age should not matter for any job.

Once upon a time, I was a 21 year old bank manager... and my branch became #1 in the country. On the opposite end of the spectrum... one of the most talented social media managers I ever worked with was in her 60s.

Age is just a number.

It's a social construct that gets a lot more credit in the workplace than it deserves. There are a ton of research studies proving that there's no correlation between someone's age and their job performance.

Just like how there's no correlation between someone's gender and how funny they are. And there's no correlation between the university someone attended and how good they are at adapting to change.

There are only three factors that are proven to correlate with job performance:

1) skills, 2) aptitude, and 3) attitude.

But here's the thing, Eeshani... all three of those are really hard to measure objectively. Whereas age is really easy to measure. So is gender. So are qualifications. So are years of experience.

All that stuff is so much easier to measure that people still assume they're reliable indicators of talent, despite the inconvenient mountain of evidence proving that's never been true.

The sad outcome of this is that many job applicants do still face discrimination because of their age, gender, race, and other factors that are no better at predicting their job performance than hair color or star sign.

That's not just unfair, it's completely unnecessary. And that's why Crossover designed a system that ignores all the irrelevant factors, and assesses people on the things that are proven to matter. It's not perfect yet, but it's exponentially fairer (and more accurate) than the old methods."

Ask Andrew is a way for you to write in with a question and get a direct response from me. Focus on remote leadership, Crossover insights, or about my journey across the world interviewing remote workers.

No technical or application queries please (send those here!)

Have a question on your mind? 👉 Ask Andrew 👈

Andrew Allen is the VP of Content Marketing at Crossover. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand and has worked for Crossover since early 2021. His superpower is using storytelling and humor to create memorable insights on complex topics. Learn more about him (and meet his doggos) here.

🛠️ Tool Share ⚡️ Practical Tools & Resources

🏍️ How do you balance innovative work with precious family time?

Meet Ben New, an Aussie motorcyclist and SVP of Technical Product Management at Trilogy. He’s mastered life's twists and turns, blending AI innovation with a rich home life through remote work.

• See how Ben’s work with AI creates professional and personal rewards
• Find out how working through Crossover 3X his earnings in Australia
• Discover how remote work keeps Ben connected to his active family life

Watch it now 👇

🛠️ Ready to build a stellar software development team?

Building a top-notch dev team takes more than just hiring talent.

This article breaks down the 7 essential steps to create a powerful and cohesive team dynamic.

• Spot the Talent: Learn to find and hire the best developers
• Forge Strong Bonds: Discover ways to build team chemistry & collaboration
• Set Clear Goals: Understand the importance of defining expectations

✔️ Read How to Build a Software Development Team (7 Steps)

🌟 What does the future of software development look like?

Stay ahead of the curve with these six mind-blowing trends set to reshape the software development world in 2024. Things are about to get serious!

• AI-Powered Development: Discover how AI is revolutionizing coding
• Remote Evolution: See the latest tools enhancing remote team productivity
• Cybersecurity Advances: Get new measures to protect your software

✔️ Read The Top 6 Software Development Trends Shaping 2024

💻 Which programming languages should DevOps engineers master in 2024?

Uncover the top 10 programming and scripting languages key for DevOps success, & see why these tools are creating the future of development and ops.

• Python & Bash: Discover why these staples are still 100% vital
• Go & Rust: Learn about the rising stars in performance and security
• Terraform & Ansible: Understand the power of infrastructure automation

✔️ Read Top 10 Programming and Scripting Languages for DevOps Engineers

🧠 Wondering how AI vetting ensures software reliability?

AI vetting is critical for the quality, ethics, and security of AI software. This article dives into the importance of AI vetting for software engineers.

• Quality Assurance: Understand how AI vetting ensures high standards
• Ethical Evaluation: Learn how to assess the ethical implications of AI
• Security Checks: Discover the methods used to verify AI software security

✔️ Read What is AI Vetting for Software Engineers?

😂 Punchline ⚡️ Here’s a Laugh Before You Go

🎟️ You Might Have Missed...

📌 How USD Creates Wealth for Non-US Remote Workers

📌 8 Leading Web Development Frameworks in 2024

📌 The Greatest Inventions in Computer Programming History

💡 Loved This Edition of Radically Remote?

Subscribe and share it with your friends - we’ll be back in two weeks to bring you more on how to become a better remote leader. Rebel with us!

🔥 If you were forced to return to the office, would you leave or stay? Tell us in the comments.