When Erica McMannes and Liza Rodewald co-founded Instant Teams in 2016, only 22 percent of American employees worked either partially or fully from home, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many people, remote work was seen as a luxury, a perk that let them avoid the commute and sleep in longer. But for Erica and Liza, military spouses who moved around as their partners were transferred around the country and world, remote work was a necessity.
Using their backgrounds in software and community development, Erica and Liza created a platform that connected military spouses with remote work positions. In doing so, they solved two major problems: they gave companies access to the best talent regardless of location and gave people who needed flexibility great job opportunities. Now, Instant Teams leads the way as a remote talent marketplace.
At the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 70 percent of American workers transitioned to work remotely. Nearly three years later, 92 million US workers have the option of working remotely, with no plans to return to the office permanently. The pandemic was the catalyst for a paradigm shift in the American workplace, and Instant Teams continues to act as an authority on remote work – with years of experience operating and optimizing their platform.
In addition to pioneering remote work, Instant Teams uses innovative technology and skills-based hiring with test verification for people to find jobs, not the traditional chronological method of resume layout. As Erica McMannes put it, Instant Teams “continues to prove the model of upskilling along with continued learning, certification and test verification, really solidifies employment opportunities and retention with an employer.” What began as a mission to help military families has transformed into a fully-fledged remote talent marketplace. While remote work was once a unique offering, it is now ubiquitous. Erica explains that Instant Team’s success “proves over and over again that access to the internet brings additional opportunities.”
