The pandemic brought us “work from home” or “WFH,” synonymous with “remote work,” and also coincided with the “Great Resignation,” which saw US workers voluntarily quit jobs in pursuit of career makeovers and flexible employment opportunities. To say that Covid-19 accelerated the shift toward remote work is an understatement. In 2019, around 4% of US employed individuals worked from home; this rose to 43% by May 2020. The shift was more pronounced among white-collar workers, of whom 65% worked from home (vs 6% before the pandemic, refer to the appendix for further details on the types of remote work policies announced).

More than two years in, remote work seems like it’s here to stay. Individuals are seeking remote working opportunities to eliminate commutes and to improve work-life balance and mental health. With an impending talent crunch that is expected to cost the global economy USD 8.5 trillion in annual revenue by 2030, companies are now looking at remote work as a long-term option, discovering the benefits of accessing a global talent pool overcoming geographical barriers—with a mutual desire to enable employees to secure opportunities unavailable to them locally—which has led to the emergence of distributed teams.

Building a distributed team presents a few additional challenges to employers that could deter them from using them altogether. Setting up local entities in every country in which their employees work is costly and takes away time and resources they might not have, especially when trying to scale teams on a project-by-project basis. This is where startups such as Oyster have come into play–to ensure compliance with local labor laws, offering localized benefits packages, and enabling enterprises to pay their remote employees in their respective local currencies.

Oyster emerged as a promising early-stage company, leading to its being featured on our EDGE100 list of rising startups.