Remotely hiring remote workers
Uber, it’s been reported, is seeking to lease out more than 30% of its newly constructed $130m San Francisco HQ.
The death of the office has finally arrived, as a greater share of knowledge and digital workers (note, they’re doing different work!) are setting up their workspace in the cloud.
“The notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past.” —Jes Staley, CEO, Barclays
Tech and non-tech companies alike are facing the same conundrum: as more workers prefer to spend more time working from home, pricy office space remains unused. And while lavish office perks were used until very recently to attract talent, it seems that remote-to-hybrid-flexibility is quickly becoming the new currency of attraction.
As remote and hybrid work become accepted reality, companies must adapt their recruiting and hiring methods (and many more aspects of talent and leadership!).
While in-person interviews are quickly becoming a hallmark of a bygone era, geographically distant talent pools become equally (if not even more) attractive as those that are located closer to the company’s HQ.
Agility and suitability eclipse proximity.
The new landscape is shifting the battle ground to the cloud: companies must take advantage of digital tools to remotely identify future potential, and to remotely unleash that of their current workers — wherever they happen to be.
Adopting new technology quickly and effectively, and making changes to realize its full business and strategic potential requires a strong innovation mindset. The death of the office and the shift to a workspace in the cloud creates a whole new environment, full with challenges and (yes!) opportunities.
This sweeping fundamental shift also operates as a natural experiment, testing the ability and suitability of current business leaders to competently lead their organizations into the future.