The Warriors head coach was dealt a double blow this week with confirmation that Jones and Hastings will both move to France this summer, with Jones joining Toulon and Hastings set to link up with Montpellier.
The exits underline the increasing difficulty faced by Glasgow and Edinburgh in retaining elite talent amid strong interest from big-spending French and English clubs. The moves follow a number of significant departures last summer, including Tom Jordan, Jack Mann, Henco Venter, Jamie Ritchie, Ali Price and Dave Cherry.
Scottish Rugby, led by performance director David Nucifora, has placed an emphasis on developing native talent and has encouraged the professional clubs to align with that strategy. However, Smith believes there is a strong case for widening the recruitment pool as Glasgow look to replace two of the most experienced backs in their squad.
Between them, Jones and Hastings have accumulated 93 Scotland caps, experience Smith feels will be difficult to replace exclusively within the Scottish-qualified market.
"I think all of the players that will play for Scotland at the 2027 World Cup have been identified," said Smith in The Scotsman. "So I don't think there's an old enough, experienced enough player that's Scottish qualified, that is out of contract, that will come to us straight away. So yes, I believe we should throw the net wider. And I hope that Scotland will understand that foreigners are not necessarily sitting in the way of the development. They are there to manage the development of players and to manage the internationals.
"If you have 20, 21 internationals in your environment, they need management. If you lose, you end up using them more. So you need a quality player in here that will allow us to maintain the current product and the current trust from the players in the product."
Smith, who guided Glasgow Warriors to the URC title in 2024, continues to drive progress at Scotstoun and has stressed the importance of sustaining standards through periods of transition.
The loss of Jones is a particularly significant one, given his impact across two spells with the club and the success of his centre partnership with Sione Tuipulotu, which has delivered at club, international and British & Irish Lions level.
"It's a done deal so it doesn't help us lingering on about that," Smith reasoned. "Huw was an integral part of our squad, and he still is, and he will be until the end. I know the man is going to give his very best for us in that jersey until the end, and we are grateful.
"It's part of, I suppose, professional sport, and we endeavoured to keep him. But we must take pride in creating opportunities for people, and in this case we're going to focus on how we can progress from this rather than this pulling us down."