Rodolphe Dutel: “Remote work was often perceived as slacking off”
Rodolphe Dutel is the founder of Remotive.com, the world’s largest remote worker community. They have been helping people find remote jobs since 2014.
In this interview, we will talk about how and why they start Remotive. We will also discuss what has changed in the remote work landscape from 2014 to the present.
You were a pioneer when talking about remote work. Why did you decide in 2014 to launch Remotive, now the #1 Remote Work Community?
Back then, I was working at Buffer.com as Director of Operations, I had a fully remote job. It was quite uncommon at the time and my friends kept asking me about “where to find remote jobs?”. I started Remotive.com as a newsletter and then a job board to scratch my itch.
How did you get to be one of the referents in the remote work sector?
I have spent time sharing thoughts on social networks over the last 8 years, some of them got picked up and amplified by people who felt the same way.
What were the main challenges you faced in 2014? What are the main challenges that you are facing now?
Remote work was often perceived as slacking off. No “large company” offered remote work at scale, aside from Automattic. It was an oddity, the digital nomad scene was up-and-coming. There was some confusion between what remote work/digital nomadism meant too, people assume remote workers were traveling at all times.
I found tons of goodwill in this space, it wasn’t mainstream just yet. With COVID, everything changed overnight and we have to adapt it…
How did you manage the increasing interest of people and companies interested in remote work?
Our role changed in 2020 with COVID. I spent years nudging companies to try remote work until I didn’t have to do it anymore. My theme evolved into “how can you work/hire remotely the right way?”.
Nowadays, I don’t advocate remote work anymore, I help those who are working remotely adapt/evolve their practices to make it easier on everyone.
Remotive.com helps hiring remotely, we are lucky to work with small companies as well as large ones (Shopify, Stripe, Square…). If readers have questions about hiring remotely, my Twitter (@rdutel) and LinkedIn DMs are always open.
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