Hiring is hard. Hiring someone you've never met is a whole lot harder. Someone you know, have worked with before or from a personal recommendation? Sure. Some guy who you've assessed can pass a coding test? Not so much. As I'm sure many here have experiences, a great way to destroy a team is to get the wrong person. Remote workers should certainly be an option. But identifying that hiring local people is hard as "whining" is just high wankery.