“There is a huge labor force that cannot work full time, such as women and university students. Employers must change their mindset and tap into this labor force, particularly with the country’s labor shortage.”

– Dr. S Subramaniam – Former Malaysian HR Minister

In this era of remote work that allows flexible work, Dr. S Subramaniam’s words cannot ring truer. 

He went on to say that employers should be open to flexible working arrangements to tap into a largely neglected segment of the labor force.

“Employers must change their mindset and tap into this labor force, particularly with the country’s labor shortage,” he added further.

A legislative framework for flexible work already exists in Malaysia – the Employment Act and Employees’ Social Security Act. This act outlines sufficient provisions on how to pay employees based on flexible work arrangements.

The untapped labor force is there and provisions have been made in the law. Now, all there is left to do is for employers to restructure their work operations. Employers should implement flexible work arrangements to employ the skilled workers who are sidelined, not because they are unwilling to work but are burdened by other commitments and bogged down by circumstances such as: 

• Household management
• Child/elderly care
• Higher studies pursuits
• Disability
• Remote locations 
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Age
• Refugee/stateless status
• Religious beliefs or lack thereof

Stigma and stereotypes (ex-convicts, lepers, people living with HIV (PLHIV), cancer survivors, former drug addicts, people with ADHD/anxiety disorders/epilepsy/hyperactivity/autism spectrum disorder, etc).

Oftentimes, these people have skills and are eager to work. Unfortunately, they are either unable to find employment as they can’t work eight straight hours, lack sufficient access to public transportation, or are subject to conscious and unconscious bias, be it in perceptions, the workplace, or the public sphere.

Remote work is the most viable solution for every point that was raised by Dr. S Subramaniam and more. It breaks the barriers that impede encompassing employment and empower people who cannot work from 9 to 5 in a physical office financially and socially.

Dr. S Subramaniam also added that Malaysia isn’t the only option for these workers; it’s hinting that working for overseas companies without local operations is also an employment opportunity Malaysians should seize. As an online remote job portal, JEDI Jobs features remote work opportunities from global employers such as Genashtim Sdn Bhd, Maya CARE, PT Glovory Technologies Indonesia, and many more. JEDI Jobs provides leeway for these Malaysians to choose a suitable company to work for remotely on a global scale.

How can remote work accommodate workers who cannot commit to an 8-hour straight work schedule and demolish barriers to encourage diversity and inclusion in the labor force?

The nature of remote work is flexible work which indirectly manifests as more focus on productivity and less on presenteeism.

This trait of remote work is an advantage for women who are responsible for domestic work at home, people with medical conditions and disabilities, university students, and senior citizens.

A remote work setting allows these workers to get work-related tasks done when they are unoccupied by other non-work-related commitments. 

Flexible remote work settings don’t only tap into such unlikely labor forces, they also encourage wives and mothers to return to the workforce. The female labor force is one of the biggest assets of a country’s economic development. Unfortunately, this invaluable workforce is shrinking fast, especially in South Asian and Middle Eastern countries according to global workforce analytics.

Genashtim Sdn Bhd is a 100% remote for-profit social enterprise with a mission to provide sustainable and gainful employment to the “forgotten workforce.” 

The “forgotten workforce” is a phrase coined by Thomas Ng, the Founder, and CEO of Genashtim. The term refers to employable people who are sidelined from mainstream society due to various drawbacks. Genashtim identifies such marginalized people and integrates them into the global economy through sustainable and gainful employment. Thomas staunchly believes that remote work is the future work model that will assist in the employment of people from disadvantaged positions in society. 

Genashtim, in particular, employs women from oppressed environments. Typically, women from cultures where their role is limited to taking care of the home and family have trouble being employed in conventional work settings as they must also manage the household. A work-from-home setting enables these women to be salaried and at the same time fulfill domestic responsibilities. These employees are some of the most efficient in the organization!

Other workers who cannot work for eight straight hours are seniors, people with disabilities (PWDs), and those with debilitating medical conditions. They also face difficulties in commuting and are often subjected to discrimination at the workplace due to their disability or illness. The perception that PWDs and people managing illnesses are not as efficient as healthy, able-bodied people is still prevalent.

Telework is fast changing this misconception.

The lack of physical presence is quoted as one of the weaknesses of remote work. For PWDs and people with illnesses though, the lack of physical presence in virtual work is a blessing in disguise. In the world of remote work, productivity trumps everything else. Since physical presence is not prioritized in remote work, the full focus is on performance. And with telecommuting technology and tools, PWDs and people living with HIV for example, show that they can be as efficient as conventional workers, if not better.

Thanks to speech recognition software, a quadriplegic worker can type faster than any able-bodied worker This is how technology is successfully transforming the workplace and telecommuting expectations by engaging a remote workforce from marginalized communities.

What must companies moving to a remote work model permanently or shifting to a remote work division have in their remote work policy?

Remote-first companies and remote-friendly companies must devise a dynamic remote work policy to suit the everchanging nature of remote work that keeps opening new doors for innovation, diversity, and inclusion.

Different remote-first and remote-friendly companies will have different telecommuting policies for their remote work division. In Singapore, some full-time remote workers are “employees by morning and tourists by afternoon.” They work as they travel the world, exploring exotic, and exciting vacation destinations. For these remote workers, work and vacation fuse to become workation. Their companies’ remote work policy will be distinct due to their business operations, remote employees’ lifestyles, and choices.

Who knew that it is possible to work while cruising the Seine River in Paris or while immersing your feet in the Pammukale hot springs in Turkey! A decade ago, holiday-goers weren’t considered an active workforce. Now, everything has changed as different derivatives of remote work models and policies contend with the common work-from-home settings that were shoved into mainstream work by the pandemic.

Genashtim is a company that supports remote work growth, embedded in the organization’s culture of growth mindset as the company gears up for the remote work future.

Genashtim’s history of remote work is humble yet powerful. It all started when Thomas discovered that students from a blind school in Manila, Philippines could operate a computer more efficiently than himself. As one of the blind school’s trustees, Thomas was disheartened to see that most of the blind students at the school were not employed despite their phenomenal computer skills. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he established Genashtim in 2008 to tap into this extremely talented workforce that few were willing to hire.  

Currently, 60% of Genashtim’s employees are PWDs living with all kinds of physical limitations, special needs, and medical afflictions. Most of them cannot work in a single stretch of eight hours with just a one-hour lunch break. In the company’s February 2022 internal newsletter edition, Thomas talked further about work-life integration. He encouraged the staff of Genashtim to take as many breaks as they need, especially for those requiring special care, hence needing frequent breaks and leaves – from turning over to avoid bed sores to attending appointments in hospitals. This was officiated as the Total Flexible Initiative – From Livelihood to Life policy that keeps a watch on the employees who don’t take leaves at all (and those who take too many leaves resulting in compromised productivity), among others.

Apart from PWDs, Genashtim also hires seniors, and Middle Eastern refugees based in Indonesia, not to mention members from the LGBTQAI community. Genashtim’s Total Flexible Initiative – From Livelihood to Life policy facilitates an improved work-life balance for these remote employee groups. Dialogues are ongoing to absorb more untapped labor force such as ex-convicts, PLHIV, and lepers into Genashtim. At the time of writing, Genashtim’s staff members are scattered in ten countries on six continents.

It’s Genashtim’s unshakeable belief that this global and latent remote workforce within disadvantaged groups will add greater value to the company and enrich its telework model. Notably, Genashtim is the best company to work for remotely as it drives sustainable business and innovation by the means of a diverse and inclusive global remote workforce which often goes unnoticed.

Top companies like Shopify and Upwork also have announced permanent telework for their employees. And then there are companies with hybrid work policies – this partial remote work model requires employees to come to the office for a few days within the work week. This begs the question, “Is hybrid work here to stay?”

The challenges of managing remote employees can be overcome by carrying out a remote work policy that serves the best interests of all stakeholders. Companies shouldn’t be hesitant in taking on new solutions or innovations and stepping into the unknown. You can either learn on the job, employ lateral and critical thinking, or, better still, combine all of it to solve any issues that may arise in your remote company or division.

Final words…

Remote work is taking on many dimensions as it has a malleable ability to employ the unlikeliest of workers. Employers must partake in this paradigm shift in the world of work and come up with ways to accommodate the sidelined labor force.

As a 100% remote company, Genashtim is proving that remote work can manifest as a catalyst in completely harnessing human capital and potential.

Look at talents, not disability, background, or way of life because at the end of the day, only talents will drive any enterprise forward – all other aspects are inconsequential. At the same time, be receptive to your employees’ requirements and support them as needed in leading a remote workforce for mutual benefits.

JEDI Jobs is poised to fill your organization’s remote division with remote employees. You can register as a remote and global employer here. Remote workers, including those from disempowered positions, will be connected to you, enabling a thriving remote workforce in your organization.