Sobre marcas y contratar en remoto

This week was published on Xataka a report on the particularities of hiring programming profiles in the current times, focusing on the role that remote work plays following the health crisis.

Alesya Makarov, the article's author, saw fit to ask us about the topic to include our reflections in a brand tone, based on learnings from recent years.

Naturally, Alesya picked what was most relevant for her work, and we thought that since the reflection was already done, it would be a shame not to share it in full with those who read us regularly.

Specifically, the questions were:

• How important is remote-first for attracting programming and developer talent?

If we start from the premise that remote work, at least remote work done well, has to do with team flexibility, trust, and freedom, we're looking at a very good way to make a job offer more attractive.

In a context like technical hiring, where it's especially difficult to find and attract talent, it's starting to become almost a basic requirement.

• Was it equally important before the Covid crisis?

Specifically in the case of this type of profile, perhaps the difference between before and after Covid-19 is smaller than in other sectors; precisely because of high demand and scarce supply.

However, the crisis has pushed (pushed us) many companies to make the definitive leap to establishing a culture compatible with remote work, which will likely cause remote to become something basic for these processes. Something much more common than a few months ago.

• What salary ranges are programmers moving in now? Is it sometimes necessary to offer them a higher one for them to decide to stay?

It depends on too many factors: years of experience, programming language, responsibilities they'll assume, type of company posting the offer… With a quick search on any job portal you can see the range salaries are moving in.

That said, we're talking about high salaries (someone just starting out can earn around 30,000 euros gross annually with a few years of experience) because the return on the value they bring is high and the market situation is very particular.

However, what we usually find is that these are profiles where, as a general rule, salary isn't the first thing they look at as long as it's within current ranges. In other words, a few thousand euros won't determine someone's decision to go one place or another, but only as long as a figure coherent with the position is offered.

That's why it's crucial to understand that a job is not, or shouldn't be, a mere commercial transaction, but something that goes beyond it—offering one more space in your daily life where you can grow and develop over the coming years, both as a professional and, why not, as a person.

This is where we start talking about remote work and other perks, but also about something fundamental: the company's values and principles. Sharing the company's methods and objectives matters far more than a small difference in compensation.

• Where do remote programmers/developers live—is there any general trend in this regard?

I don't have data to answer whether there's a trend in this sense, honestly. What I do know is that Spain is a good place to hire these profiles, especially in areas away from major cities.

There's an opportunity in what they call Depopulated Spain—villages and small cities far from major capitals that offer very high quality of life with professionals at the same level as those you find in Madrid or Barcelona.

If we go further and search abroad, new factors emerge that account for the magnification of remote work's advantages and drawbacks: managing time zones or cultural alignment becomes more complex, but at the same time we gain access to greater diversity of people and talent.

• How do you convince a programmer to join a smaller company instead of, say, going to Amazon?

The differences between one option and the other are so vast that as a company, there's little we can do to change that profile's mind. Our energy, as a small company, should be focused on highlighting what we are, where we're going, and how we intend to get there.

If that person is simply torn between one option or another, we'd frame the message around the impact on the company's future. In principle, the difference someone can make at a small company will undoubtedly be greater than what they could trigger at a corporate giant.

If you want to mark a before and after in an organization, you'll have a harder time at Amazon.

It's a different story if we're weighing the choice between two similarly sized companies with comparable opportunities. How do we get a developer to choose us, a small company, over other companies at a similar "development level," even if they're the same size or larger.

In this case, from Soluble we argue that it's something you work on through your brand to have a shot at accessing top talent. We're talking about a sector where at certain levels unemployment doesn't exist, so it's the talent that chooses the company where they work, not the other way around.

For this reason it's critical to clearly define what your vision is, what your horizon is, what your values and purpose are, and above all, to tell it and prove it with facts.

When this exists, when this alignment we consider fundamental is in place, it's time to try to make the offers as attractive as possible: work environment, flexibility, team care, remote work, benefits… Or more unconventional ideas like the one we announced a few days ago from Soluble: the Solubleta, a campervan at the entire team's disposal to work from wherever they really want.