Disclaimer: The world is a lot more complex than you or I can imagine, and there are many variables that go in an environment that neither of us are aware of.

Disclaimer: The world is a lot more complex than you or I can imagine, and there are many variables that go in an environment that neither of us are aware of. Anecdote from current job: UK citizen living and working in US for a Swedish company on a h/w project that I need physical access too. H/W is made by a Chinese company. Project leads are situated all across the world in multiple time zones. Other parts of the software development is spread across Eastern Europe. Anecdote from last job: Building software in a team of thousands spread all around the world across every time zone imaginable needing access to remote systems, physical hardware and thousands of sensors on a floating ship thousands of miles away with a crappy satellite connection. Conclusion: "I don't understand how the other half lives, therefore it is impossible." There are certain subsets of software development that need to be hands on. Many don't. And to address the "lack of discipline" in the article: That's your problem. To address the hiring of foreign nationals and local labour laws: There are literally companies that exist solely for that purpose. I've used two of those companies in the past for our own teams to hire a foreign national as an employee that works remotely. A cursory web search will throw up dozens of companies that specialize in just that. Those companies have registered offices all across the world. You're hired to that company locally and fulfill all local employment laws for only a marginal amount of overhead. Bad article is bad.