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Ask HN: Why companies don't want to hire remote employees anymore?

1 pointssayelt10y ago5 comments

I've been trying to apply to many different startups lately but I can't land on any job, they all require the employee is in the US.

Anyone else having this problem?

I'm a Rails/React/Node/Java developer with an average of 17 years of programming experience.

It's really depressing as there are not many local jobs in my area as well.

Any suggestions? Moving is not an option.

5 comments

3 comments · 1 top-level

kjksf10y ago· 2 in thread

Did you try applying for jobs that specifically mention remote, like those found via https://www.google.com/search?q=remote+jobs ?

Was it ever to easy to find a remote job? You have to understand that there are 2 things going against you:

1. Remote jobs are (and have always been) relatively rare.

2. There's lots of additional tax/paperwork complexity to hiring foreigners (in your particular case, for US companies trying to hire people who are not americans). That limits the opportunities for remote work even further.

It's not impossible to find remote work at a company from a different country but it's very hard (and have always been hard).

The best strategy is to do something outstanding, that will get you noticed. The better you look to potential employer, the more likely they'll be to invest additional effort into hiring you.

A total side-note: there's no such thing as "average of 17 years of experience" when you're talking about just one person.

sayeltOP10y ago

> Did you try applying for jobs that specifically mention remote, like those found via https://www.google.com/search?q=remote+jobs ?

Yes.

> Was it ever to easy to find a remote job?

Sometimes, sometimes not. I've been working remotely since 2008 because IT jobs are lacking in my area. Unfortunately, and of late, employers respond with something like:

"Unfortunately we're not looking for remote at this time", or "You have to be in the US for this position".

There are some companies that accept remote, but as you said, they are the exception, not the rule.

> A total side-note: there's no such thing as "average of 17 years of experience" when you're talking about just one person.

Can you elaborate on this? Why is that wrong to say? English is also not my primary language.

I actually have something like ~17 years of programming experience.

tokensimian10y ago

Average is (typically) the arithmetic mean of a sample. In a sample of one (you), the mean is the sample. It sounds awkward, and would be a red flag that someone either didn't know what they were talking about, or were trying to mislead me (outside of your situation, and probably others).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse