From a bold Latin American startup to a global hiring engine, the company is redefining how employers find and retain remote talent—fast, deep and for life.
In 2012, when remote work was still considered unconventional, Tomas O’Farrell faced skeptics. But he was serious enough to build Workana around the revolutionary idea that work should happen from anywhere. Today, with remote-first strategies now mainstream, the company has become Latin America’s largest platform for remote work—and a growing force in the global talent market.
“We were the first to nail remote work—an idea that sounded a bit crazy at the time,” recalls O’Farrell, founder and CEO of Workana. “Our success in the field has been driven by our pioneering spirit and intense focus on making sure that we’re always matching the perfect talent with the right job opportunity, something we have been doing for over 10 years now.”
What began as a hub for short-term freelance projects has now evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem of long-term placements and career development. For O’Farrell, the key lies in deeply understanding each freelancer—their hard and soft skills and their aspirations for the next phase of their career.
Workana’s detailed vetting process, combined with its data-driven matching engine, yields speed and precision. With the scale to be selective and fast, the remote work platform has been able to shorten the staffing process from weeks or months to only a couple of days.
Workana’s model also addresses a critical barrier in Latin America: geography. In a region where talented professionals often face a dilemma—stay in their hometowns with family or move to big cities for career growth—Workana offers a third option. That is, stay at home to enjoy both social support and a challenging career. That vision has not only empowered local professionals but also has attracted international clients who have discovered the region’s high English proficiency, strong work ethic and ideal time zones.
As the pandemic accelerated the shift to remote hiring, American companies began tapping into Workana’s Latin American talent pool. Now, the company is doubling down on U.S. expansion while staying laser-focused on its mission: to be the platform that supports talent throughout their entire professional lives—while maintaining the same dedication to excellence for its clients.
This dual commitment to people and performance is reflected in Workana’s business philosophy. Rather than chasing volume, the company prioritizes depth—longer relationships, more integrated support and ongoing upskilling to help talent move into higher-paying, more meaningful work. These initiatives also work well for clients, who build lasting relationships with Workana as they discover the distinct advantages of the Latin American workforce.
“We’re on a mission to make sure Latin American talent becomes more widely recognized around the world,” says O’Farrell, who brings about 20 years of experience founding and scaling internet startups across Latin America, Southeast Asia and now the U.S. “Building a team used to be very complicated, but we’ve made it possible to find the perfect people and get started within days. Companies will be amazed by the results.”
At its core, Workana is about possibility: the belief that great talent shouldn’t be bound by geography and that building global teams can happen with speed. In an increasingly borderless world of work, that promise is not just appealing—it’s essential.
Learn more about Workana at www.workana.com.
