A survey by Gartner Inc. found that 58% of organizations report having technology talent working in a fully remote, borderless arrangement. The number has doubled in the past three years, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Gartner, a borderless workforce means talents working remotely from different countries based on an employment contract made across national borders. The survey also found that 27% of leaders consider hiring borderless tech employees.

“This is no surprise that the rate of hiring borderless technology staff doubled in the last three years as increasing retention and hiring has risen to the number three priority for CEOs this year and 2023,” said Gabriela Vogel, senior director analyst at Gartner. “The Covid-19 pandemic also accelerated borderless hiring, and what began as an exception is no longer.”

The survey was conducted among 288 C-level executives and their direct reports during the second quarter of 2022. The survey found that among organizations that have borderless talent, 19% of their IT workforce is borderless.

The survey found that India is the most-selected country for recruiting borderless technology labor for European and North American companies.

Gartner noted that the top two areas of expertise employers seek borderless talent for are software engineering/application development, sought by 62% of survey respondents, and application support, sought by 55%.