Andela Moves Beyond Africa, Now Accepts Developers from Latin and South America
Andela Moves Beyond Africa, Now Accepts Developers from Latin and South America
Andela, the company best known for connecting African software developers with global clients, has expanded its talent pool to include developers from Latin and South America.
According to Andela, this opportunity is open to Africans and non-Africans living in those regions. The decision, according to Jeremy Johnson, the company's CEO, "has always been part of our long-term roadmap, and we're excited that the world is ready for it."
He views the move as a reflection of the "future of work," which he describes as remote and unconstrained by geographical boundaries or the need to share physical spaces.
Andela will close its physical offices in Nigeria, Uganda, and Rwanda in July 2020 to become a completely remote company. At the time, the rationale was to increase the number of Africans who could apply to work as software developers for the company.
While the pandemic's restriction on physical movement was a factor, there was some logic to the change in policy. Andela's physical offices were located exclusively in major cities throughout the countries they operated (Lagos, Nairobi, Kampala; their Cairo operation was remote-first from day one). Anyone interested in becoming an Andela developer was required to relocate to these cities.
Going Remote
By going remote, Andela can accept applications from qualified developers located throughout Africa. Johnson stated at the time that the move expanded Andela's engineer pool to 500,000 from the previous 250,000 under the physical-office model.
However, the remote logic was destined to grow organically; if going remote allows Andela to reach out to more African developers, it also allows them to reach out to developers worldwide.
750 percent increase in applications in 6 months
Andela reports a 750 percent increase in applications from qualified engineers outside of Africa over the last six months. According to the company, in March 2021 alone, more than 30% of inbound applications came from outside Africa; half of that 30% came from Latin America.
Latin and South American countries speak Spanish or Portuguese, ranging from Mexico on the United States' southern border, through Colombia and Brazil, to Chile and Argentina.
Andela views their diverse clientele as an asset. Businesses that employ engineers from diverse geographies benefit from the diversity of their backgrounds, lived experiences, and work styles, contributing to the product's quality.
