Remote jobs keep tech workers in state

As Oklahoma strives to become a tech hub, programmers, designers and other tech industry workers are bringing a slice of Silicon Valley and other cities to the Sooner State.

It's possible through the remote workspace, something Daniel Ashcraft chose to do after working two years in an Oklahoma City office environment. He is now a software developer for a New York company and works 100% remotely from his home.

“To be honest, I think it's more scary if you're comfortable with the traditional job ,” said Ashcraft. “I think most Oklahomans are fairly comfortable working at a traditional 9-to-5.”

Oklahoma is years behind there st of the country when it comes to technology and culture, he said, and the state hasn't fully embraced the telecommuting lifestyle.

“That's just a cultural problem that' s slowly getting better,” he said. “There's many companies that are working to change that, and we senior devs are trying to influence that in a positive direction.”

Oklahoma City resident Will Phillips enjoys the flexibility of working from home for a Tennesseebased startup.

“Having been on both sides of it myself, it's not for everyone. It's a very different dynamic,” he said. “It takes a certain kind of discipline to stay productive and do your work.”

One benefit of adopting a remote-first work style is the wide-open range of job opportunities, Phillips said.

“There' s a lot more tools that support remote work now than there used to be,” he said, like the instant-messaging collaboration platform Slack. “Even if there were a lot of companies here in Oklahoma City, by going remote you're opening yourself up to several other cities and all those job opportunities.”

Oklahoma developers can take a high-paying job for well-known companies in more tech-mature cities like Denver, Portland or Austin, along with New York and the heart of America's software workforce, Silicon Valley. There's a catch, however.

Roary Tubbs, a product designer f or a San Francisco company, said hiring managers may not have to do much hunting in the Midwest because “remote” can mean anywhere in the world.

“If you' re hiring remote, you probably don' t need to recruit people. You're probably getting a lot of applicants ,” he said.