I remember working with two programmers that always spoke about the same topic with fear and trepidation at work. They were deathly afraid of being replaced or outsourced by India, or China or somewhere they imagined had millions of programmers lying in wait for their jobs. What I found most perplexing was that these programmers worked on U.S. government programs that made them incredibly safe from the very things they worried about; the only people who could work on these programs were U.S. citizens!

I'm sure there are psychologists that could explain why they worried about something so unlikely to happen and why it happened to both of them simultaneously. At the time, I assumed they built up the fear together much like you can calm others down by being calm yourself.

What they most feared was in fact something that was important, however farcical the likelihood of them losing their jobs to foreigners was. It was the concept that there is talent everywhere.

You can tell this is true when you see the diversity in the technology industry in terms of where people come from. They come from all over the world. For startups, and businesses in general, this is ultimately an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is magnified by the effect communication and software systems have brought us. It is now possible to send messages, video and other projections of ourselves at speeds that offer near television like clarity over a somewhat unreliable worldwide network. The problem is, of course, that doesn't change that some people are easily distracted and others are very milestone and work centric focused. If you don't bring the talent to you, as an employer, you have to manage from afar, something which requires different skill sets for both boss and worker to be successful.

The other option than to using technology to try to bring remote workers closer to the employer is to have the non-local worker come to you physically. The true point is that if you only consider your local labor market, you are already behind other companies who think globally, even if they reach locally. This doesn't mean you have to become IBM with what I have heard is an estimated 300,000 workers outside the US, with 100,000 in the US. You can pick and choose who you need from the non-local talent pool and how you want to interact with them.

Many people tell me they could never work from home while others work incredibly well in the same situation without the social distractions of an office. Some find working afar isolating. Whatever the case, the best approach is to have good communication between the supervisor and the employee to make sure everyone is clear on the rules of when people are expected to work and how they will be evaluated to be successful. We have incredible employees in many different states in the US, and it is pretty clear why they are successful. They are self motivated, interested in their work and there is constant communication between them and their supervisor. If we only selected people in our local area, we would never have the talent we do. It's part of the company's DNA and it's something to consider, especially as no matter the state of the labor market, having the right people is always a good investment.