This article originally appeared in the Globe and Mail September 14, 2022. Catch a preview of it below.
“As the owner of a small business looking to carve a global niche, Tyler Paquette goes all out to hire the right staff – locally and internationally – for his five-year-old software development company.
Mr. Paquette, 28, has been a tech specialist for about a dozen years, and he still does a lot of hands-on work while overseeing a half-dozen employees at Onamal Inc., a web development and mobile app firm. The Brantford, Ont.-based company has worked with clients in Canada, the United States, the Philippines, Britain, and China.
Onamal’s staff works remotely from wherever they want, and at one time, for example, two employees were based in Singapore. He says the trend toward remote work driven by the COVID-19 pandemic means his company can hire from anywhere and it is unlikely to be judged by clients for lacking a sprawling head office or a large staff.
If you can do the job for the right price, you’re desirable to potential clients, Mr. Paquette says.
“We’re a white-label business working along with other agencies,” he explains, adding Onamal recently began serving farms in the area around Fredericton. “They’d reach out to a company like mine, and we’d be able to fill the gap, including to complement their existing operations.”
Mr. Paquette and his staff are part of a trend that futurist Lindsay Angelo says has been heightened by the pandemic – the rise of the agile work force, and the “digital nomad” movement.
Ms. Angelo is also a speaker with expertise in consumerism and innovation. She says she anticipates remote hiring and remote work – including ‘nomads’ – will remain a viable and popular option, even as many companies bring employees back to the office full-time or switch to a hybrid model.
Ms. Angelo has embraced the digital nomad lifestyle herself.
“You can have a worker who wants to live in L.A. a few months, travel to Europe and want to work from wherever they want to work, to not ‘live’ in one location,” the dual citizen says. “I toggle between Seattle and Vancouver. It’s been great and I love the lifestyle.”
It has, however, become more difficult since the onset of the pandemic to get the right talent, as companies around the world have embraced hiring from anywhere, increasing competition for skills…”
Click here to read more.
Want to check out the top 30 futurists globally? Click here.
About Lindsay
Lindsay provides growth and advisory services to purpose-driven brands. Named a global innovation leader and Women to Watch, you will find her at the intersection of strategy, story-telling and innovation. When she’s not collaborating with clients, she’s hitting TEDx and other stages across North America to deliver keynotes on the future of consumerism, strategy and innovation. Prior to advising and providing brand and marketing consulting services, Lindsay spent six years at lululemon crafting their global growth strategy, exploring new marketplace opportunities and growing the company into the number one yoga wear player in the world. Her experiences culminate in what she refers to as her sweet spot - where strategy, innovation and insights intersect, where the rational meets the emotive, where facts meet insights and where logic meets creativity.
