This isn't an immigration issue per se but we (early stage startup) were thinking of hiring an employee who will remain in their home country (Colombia) and work remotely until COVID concerns are far in the rearview. Do you know of any companies that we can use as a proxy or intermediary so we don't have to go through all the legal hoops ourselves? After some super quick research we found lano.io but would love some more recs if you (or anyone else) have some.

If you are not going to be doing business in Colombia or otherwise have a presence there, you probably don't really need to worry about their laws. You just need to address non-resident taxation here in the US. I would suggest talking to a tax attorney or professional to double check, but normally, compensation for personal services physically performed in the foreign country is not considered US-source income. Same as if you hired him to go take some product photos in Columbia or do door to door sales or anything else. If that is the case in your scenario, this would be really easy and you would have virtually no paperwork or witholding requirements.

So, it may be a lot cheaper to have an initial checkup with a tax specialist and then skip the ongoing expense of having a "proxy" company.