In many parts of the world, February 14 is the date most closely associated with celebrating love.
In Colombia, we do things a little differently.
Every September, Colombians celebrate Día del Amor y la Amistad (Love and Friendship Day) a tradition dedicated not only to couples, but also to friends, families, coworkers and the relationships that bring people together.
In 2026, the celebration falls on Saturday, September 19, following the Colombian tradition of observing Love and Friendship Day on the third Saturday of September.
For those outside Colombia, it may be an unfamiliar tradition. But it also offers a small window into something that matters increasingly in today’s global workplace: the importance of building meaningful connections across cultures, countries and teams.
Why does Colombia celebrate Love and Friendship Day in September?
Colombia’s September celebration dates back to 1969.
Until then, Valentine’s Day had also been observed in February. However, Colombian merchants promoted moving the celebration away from the beginning of the year, when households were often dealing with expenses related to Christmas and the back-to-school season. September offered a period with fewer major commercial celebrations, and the date eventually became established as the country’s own Love and Friendship Day.
Over time, the celebration also developed a character that goes beyond romantic relationships. The word “friendship” became just as important as “love.”
Today, offices, schools, families and groups of friends frequently participate in Amigo Secreto, Colombia’s version of Secret Santa, exchanging small gifts and using the occasion as an opportunity to spend time together.
And the tradition remains remarkably popular.
According to a 2025 national survey, eight out of ten respondents planned to celebrate Love and Friendship Day. Among respondents, 66% said they would participate in Amigo Secreto. Perhaps even more interesting from a workplace perspective, 57% of those participating said they would play with coworkers, ahead of family, classmates or friends.
That statistic says something interesting about the way many Colombians think about the workplace. The people we work with are not always simply people on an organizational chart. They become part of our everyday communities.
What friendship has to do with global teams
Of course, companies do not build teams around holidays or gift exchanges.
But behind traditions like Love and Friendship Day is something much more relevant to business: relationships matter.
Successful teams depend on trust.
They depend on people feeling comfortable asking a question, sharing an idea, raising a concern, helping a colleague solve a problem or jumping into a conversation when something needs to move quickly.
Those behaviors become even more important when teams are distributed across different countries.
Technology has made it possible for organizations to work with talent almost anywhere in the world. But simply connecting two people through a platform does not automatically create collaboration.
The strongest distributed teams are built when distance becomes less noticeable in the everyday experience of working together.
That is where nearshore teams can offer a different kind of global collaboration.
Nearshore means more than being geographically closer
For U.S. organizations, Latin America offers something particularly valuable: the possibility of expanding a team internationally while maintaining many of the conditions that make everyday collaboration feel natural.
Through its Nearshore Labor Services, LinkAmerica supports organizations with bilingual talent from Latin America across areas including customer service and technical support, sales and back-office operations, project coordination and process optimization. Teams in Colombia and Costa Rica operate in time zones aligned with the United States, helping colleagues communicate and collaborate in real time.
That proximity changes the experience.
Instead of sending a request at the end of one workday and waiting for another region to wake up, teams can join the same morning meetings.
They can solve problems together.
They can speak directly with customers.
They can collaborate during the same critical hours.
And, over time, the relationship can evolve from “our team and their team” to simply: our team.
The human side of nearshoring
Cost efficiency remains an important reason organizations explore nearshore models. LinkAmerica’s Nearshore Labor Services can provide up to 60% cost savings compared with U.S.-based operations, together with bilingual capabilities, scalability and an average deployment time of 30 to 60 days.
But numbers only explain part of the value. A nearshore strategy is ultimately about people.
It is about finding professionals who can understand your operation, communicate with your customers, work alongside your existing employees and become a dependable part of how your organization delivers results.
Cultural proximity can help.
Compatible working hours can help.
Shared language can help.
But strong teams are built through something much more fundamental: consistent human relationships.
And perhaps that is why a celebration like Colombia’s Love and Friendship Day resonates beyond the flowers, chocolates and Amigo Secreto gifts.
It reminds us that relationships are worth cultivating.
Across the Americas, connection matters
At LinkAmerica, we have spent more than 14 years helping organizations build nearshore teams that become part of their operations, supported by talent in Colombia and Costa Rica and connected to businesses across the United States.
Our philosophy has always been about more than connecting locations. It is about connecting people, processes and possibilities.
This Love and Friendship Day, we celebrate the colleagues, customers, partners and teams across the Americas who prove every day that meaningful collaboration does not have to stop at a border.
Because great teams can work from different countries.
They can speak with different accents.
They can bring different perspectives.
And still feel remarkably close.
Happy Love and Friendship Day from Colombia and from all of us at LinkAmerica.
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