The job market is becoming more globalized. For decades, workers in the United States would look for opportunities within a reasonable commute from their homes. Slowly and steadily, jobs moved from big cities, such as New York, to lower-cost locations within the country. There’s now a growing trend of recruiting and placing people in places worldwide.
I had a wide-ranging conversation with Eryn Marshall, the global talent acquisition leader at Oyster, a global recruiting and talent platform designed to help people find remote jobs in various countries.
Marshall shared her passion for the company, as Oyster is a certified B Corporation, which means it has met certain social and environmental standards and is accountable to all stakeholders—not just shareholders. The designation requires this type of entity to balance profits with a positive impact on employees, society and the environment. Other examples include Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Etsy and Warby Parker.
Mission Driven To Make A Difference
Oyster cofounder and CEO Tony Jamous says about the business model, “Distributed work is better for business, better for people and better for the planet.” One of the missions of Oyster is to create a more equal world by providing the ability to hire people across the globe, so workers won’t be excluded based on where they live.
For the longest time, an accomplished person living in rural America would face a dilemma. They’d need to leave their friends and family behind in pursuit of a better opportunity. It would also require the financial wherewithal to relocate, which would be a significant barrier to overcome. This would leave people stuck and held prisoner to only the jobs available within close proximity to their residences.
Now that many companies offer remote work options, a person can apply for a job anywhere globally. Platforms such as Oyster, Deel, Wellfound (formerly AngleList Talent), Velocity Global, and Remote can help bridge this gap.
Placing People Around The Planet
Oyster launched a Talent Network with a roster of around 20 top recruiting, talent acquisition, search firms and job hiring platforms to provide opportunities for people around the globe. They include Hired, Facet, GoGloby, Initi8, Lupa, Niya, Talentful, Torre, Uplers and VanHack.
Improving The Candidate Experience
In addition to placing diverse candidates around the world, Marshall and her team are focused on dramatically improving the applicant’s interviewing, hiring and onboarding experiences. Unfortunately, as of late, many job hunters have to contend with being ghosted, not offered feedback or constructive feedback during the interview process, required to undergo never-ending rounds of interviews, and told to complete complex projects and reports without pay. It’s time for a different approach. Oyster prides itself on treating job seekers with dignity, courtesy, empathy and respect.
The company offers an AI-driven chat feature to help candidates, contractors and employees gain insights into the corporate culture, answer any pay or benefits questions and loop them in on new initiatives.
It’s challenging to hire highly specialized professionals like software engineers. The costs of employing hundreds of software developers in San Francisco are burdensome. However, since America doesn’t have a monopoly on top talent, Oyster can place people in more affordable countries with considerably lower costs than the U.S.
Also, Oyster’s social consciousness is evidenced in its commitment to hiring people worldwide. This helps society by bringing together workers from all walks of life, enhancing a better appreciation of other cultures in the global workplace.
Taking Care Of Benefits, Payroll And Compliance
Global hiring represents a big challenge. There is a mountain of paperwork, local laws, regulations, payroll, compliance, currency exchanges, taxes, benefits and other concerns. Oyster’s goal is to simplify the process to help expedite hiring. It leverages AI to help inform, guide, answer questions and help workers understand the corporate culture and have access to what they need to succeed in their roles. The platform quickly reached unicorn status about two years after its initial launch and now recruits job seekers in more than 180 countries.
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