Digital Trends Live recently welcomed Lauren Proctor, the head of product and marketing for Jobbatical, which matches international tech workers with companies from all over the world.
“There is actually a skill shortage in tech almost everywhere right now, and we have tech workers from countries all around the world,” Proctor said. “We just got a sign-up from North Korea, we have employers from 76 countries, so these are employers that really want to build diverse teams and benefit from global expertise from around the world.”
Jobbatical has just celebrated its fourth birthday and has assisted 275,000 people and averages 3,000 signups a week. The company has matched people from 34 countries to 54 other countries. Unsurprisingly, Proctor explained that job trends for 2019 include people wanting to work remote.
“We are seeing more and more remote work … people want to stay remote with their career, they want flexibility,” she said. “More than anything we are seeing tons of people from big startup hubs, San Francisco and New York, they are throwing away their salary for real personal growth and career growth and care about working with a company on a mission.”
Employers are also making an effort to address artificial intelligence (A.I.) and how to find employees to fit those needs.
“We are seeing a ton of employers trying to figure out what to do with A.I. and machine learning,” she said. “We are seeing that governments are supporting this as well. We are working with some governments to actually change visa laws so that companies can bring in these high-profile workers.”
Jobbatical is working on a Digital Nomad Visa, in partnership with the Estonian government, which will allow tech experts to travel from country to country in Europe much easier.
Proctor also talked about more employers using a performance-based model rather than focusing on the hours worked.
“We are seeing more and more employers using aperformance-based model, where they are worried more about what they achieve during the workweek as opposed to how long they need to be there,” Proctor said. “So, it’s not counting hours and giving promotions to the guy that shows up at eight and doesn’t leave till midnight. We are talking about performance-based rewards, and it doesn’t matter where you are or when you’re there.”
Find more about Jobbatical or to look for jobs yourself, check out their website.
Digital Trends Live airs at 9 a.m. PT from Monday through Friday, with highlights available on demand after the stream ends. For more information, check out the Digital Trends Live homepage.
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