And I'd say it was common, at least before the pandemic. Our remote-first company rarely hired very junior engineers, partially after a little trial and error,

And I'd say it was common, at least before the pandemic. Our remote-first company rarely hired very junior engineers, partially after a little trial and error, including finding that hiring someone who already had remote experience would typically have a higher chance of succeeding. Not that it was required, but it was a better guarantee that things would generally go pretty well. On the flip side: we've also had one experience with an absolutely fantastic junior contributor, who we got as an intern. Unfortunately, this person wanted an on-site experience, and we couldn't give it since we are fully distributed. Having better techniques and approaches to help get junior developers more engaged, trained, and leveling up is good, but there are a lot of intangibles - including the social aspect - that simply don't work great for many young people fresh out of college or other training.