Borderless Hiring: The Future of Global Talent

Hello!

It’s Thursday, 1^st May 2025. Welcome to Bold Efforts. This is part two of a two-part series on the state of job search today and where it's headed next. Last week, we explored why the current system is broken. This week, we go one level deeper into the shift that’s already reshaping the future of hiring.

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Key Idea: Borderless Hiring and Remote Roles

Let’s rewind for a moment.

In last week’s issue, I argued that job search is broken. The platforms are noisy. The signals are weak. The incentives are misaligned. That piece struck a nerve. Dozens of you wrote in to say the same thing. Candidates feel overlooked. Companies feel overwhelmed. Everyone is tired of pretending this system works.

But the real story doesn’t stop there.

Because beneath all the noise and frustration, something big is happening. A shift that is already rewriting the rules of how hiring works. A shift from local to global. From proximity to possibility. This is the age of borderless talent.

For the first time in history, where you live no longer dictates the work you can do. That might sound obvious to remote veterans, but most of the world is just waking up to its consequences. CEOs are starting to. In a CNBC piece last year, tech leaders made it clear: remote work was just the opening act. The real headline is borderless hiring.

This isn’t about flexibility. This is a civilizational unlock. For decades, your birth country, passport, and visa status acted as gatekeepers to opportunity. Now, those gates are breaking open. Companies are no longer looking at where you are. They’re looking at what you can do. Talent is being evaluated on merit, not location.

A company doesn’t just hire “remote workers.” It hires from the world. A startup in Berlin can onboard a backend engineer in Lagos. A fintech firm in Singapore can build its design team in Bogotá. This isn’t a theory. It’s already real.

And it’s not a race to the bottom. It’s a race to the edges. Founders are not chasing cost savings (focusing on revenue maximization instead). They’re chasing cognitive diversity. They want people who bring lived experience, unique insight, and unfiltered drive. People who weren’t shaped by the same institutions or echo chambers. Borderless hiring helps companies scale wisely, avoid groupthink, and stay ahead.

But there’s a catch.

While talent has gone global, the infrastructure hasn’t. Most hiring tools were built for a time when work happened in a building and tax codes were local. The tools, laws, and workflows still assume you live down the road. The friction is constant. From compliance to contracts to job discovery; nothing moves as smoothly as it should.

That’s why I’m building Remote Roles.

And today, as promised, I’m excited to share it with you first. remoteroles.ai is now live in alpha. Many things here do not work right now. This is your early access link. 2 weeks before the public launch. Remote Roles is an AI-powered search engine for jobs at remote-first companies. It’s built for a borderless world. For the developers in Nairobi. The marketers in Manila. The designers in Tbilisi. The dreamers, doers, and builders who aren’t waiting for permission.

This link is private for now. Consider it your backstage pass. A peek into what it means to build software that’s fast, real, and designed to solve real problems. Built with urgency. Tested in public. Powered by belief.

We’re just getting started. But the shift is undeniable. Hiring is no longer about who lives nearby. It’s about who can move the needle.

Hiring is no longer about proximity. It’s about possibility.

Thank you for reading.

More soon,
Kartik

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Who am I?
I’m Kartik, founder of Polynomial Studio, a holding company and product studio building AI-driven businesses for the future of work. The way we work and live is being rewritten. AI, remote work, and shifting economic forces are reshaping careers, businesses, and entire industries. The big question is where it’s all heading.

For the past eight years, I’ve been at the forefront of these shifts, working across real estate, technology, startups, and corporate strategy. I’ve helped businesses navigate change and stay ahead of what’s next, always focused on understanding the forces shaping our future and how we can use them to build something better. Click here to know more about me.

Why Bold Efforts?
I started Bold Efforts because I believe work should fit into life, not the other way around. Too many people are stuck in outdated systems that don’t serve them. This newsletter is about challenging the status quo and making the effort to design work around life. It brings together bold ideas and actionable insights to help you build a healthier, more balanced relationship with work, leading to greater purpose and fulfillment. If you’re looking for fresh perspectives on how to work and live better, you’re in the right place.

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