I connected with an early founder I’ve known for a few years. He recently completed raising a round of venture capital and is excited to get back to building his company. We talked about all the things that are top of mind. Naturally, recruiting headed his list. He finally has the capital to hire the people he needs to support growth. Unfortunately, he’s facing something he hadn’t planned on. “Recruiting in this work-from-home environment is hard. I can’t afford anyone.”

This founder is in a second-tier city where salaries are historically lower. His fundraising assumed that he’d pay market rate for new, local hires. But the work-from-home movement hasn’t eased, and it’s hindering his recruiting efforts. He finds himself in a situation where he’s competing not just with other local companies but also companies nationwide. Some larger companies are offering salaries and benefit packages he can’t come close to. This wouldn’t have mattered before, because these companies used to want their people to live near the mother ship. People who didn’t want to relocate often took jobs that paid less. Now, larger organizations are allowing employees to work from home, which has expanded the reach of their recruiting efforts.

We’re in a very early phase of determining what work will look like going forward. It was interesting to hear a firsthand account of how it’s affecting one founder’s efforts to build his team. I’m not sure how this will play out, and I’m very interested and will be watching it closely.