The pandemic hit and we figured we’d work remotely as a temporary measure to cope with global lockdowns. Fast forward to 2022 and remote work is rapidly evolving in ways we never expected in the pre-pandemic era, especially in areas of diversity and inclusion. 

Employers and employees are benefiting from remote work in many unforeseen ways. The benefits of remote work are fairly recent discoveries and there is no turning back on them. 

Benefits for employers: 

• Saves costs 
• Increases communication and integration 
• Offers a global talent pool
• Reduces employee absenteeism 
• Saves time in work processes 
• Mitigates office politics 
• Increases employee retention 
• Builds employee loyalty 

Benefits for employees: 

• Offers the opportunity for the best career for work-life balance 
• Saves time since commuting isn’t necessary
• Allows flexible work hours 
• Saves money 
• Can work from wherever they are 
• Promotes overall health and happiness 

Diversity and inclusion are other notable benefits that work for remote employers and the global workforce. This can be termed global work-life management and is making great strides in the lives of sidelined people who are latent human capital. How this plays out is creating watershed events in the economy, business sectors, and social equity. 

How does remote work boost diversity and inclusion? 

We can thank the pandemic for leading a major shift in the way we work and opening more organizational opportunities for diversity and inclusion. 

Despite skepticism at the outset, remote work has provided sustainable and gainful employment for many marginalized groups – they finally have a shot at contributing to the economy while uplifting their lives as full-time employees. 

When Genashtim Pte Ltd began its remote operations in 2008, many doubted if its remote work model of employing people who are sidelined by mainstream employment would be successful. Fourteen years later, as of 2022, Genashtim has more than 120 employees hailing from 25 countries. The diversity and inclusion within Genashtim as a company have been made possible by remote work. 

Genashtim’s employees largely include persons with disabilities (PWDs), veterans, refugees, members of the LGBTQAI community, and women in oppressed environments. Efforts are ongoing to expand Genashtim’s diversity and inclusion mission. The company is looking to employ single parents, lepers, people living with HIV (PLHIV), ex-convicts, people with dependents, and other people who don’t have it easy to get a job in the conventional work setting. Going a step further, JEDI Jobs, an online remote jobs portal is powered by Genashtim – the goal is to get more people from underrepresented groups employed by global remote companies. 

The ability to work from home and having flexible work hours make “the forgotten workforce” viable and promising candidates for any company, fulfilling the company’s diversity and inclusion goals. The phrase “the forgotten workforce” was coined by Genashtim’s Founder and CEO, Thomas Ng. It refers to the incredibly diverse people existing in a society that has the desire and ability to work but are unable to find employment because of the adverse and unfavorable circumstances they’re in.  

Genashtim is a trailblazer in devising an ever-evolving remote work model that accommodates all kinds of workers in varying situations, nationalities, and abilities who are united by heuristic tendencies and global mindsets. The for-profit social enterprise has built a remote work culture and staff members are maintaining the company culture while working remotely. 

More and more people are choosing to work remotely. Some are forgoing salary raises in exchange for the opportunity to be a teleworker. This is especially applicable to women and parents with very young children who can’t afford daycare. Without remote work, this section would be out of the global workforce, shrinking diversity and inclusion. 

Women are choosing remote work and returning to work due to remote work’s flexible nature

Millions of women chose to resign from their jobs to fulfill their family and home management demands during the pandemic, a huge percentage of whom comprises women of color. However, remote work saved these women’s careers – they could keep their jobs, juggle household chores, and even return to doing paid work.  

According to a recent survey, more women prefer to work remotely than men. This revelation is notable as women seem to reconcile remote work with the disproportionate domestic responsibilities and family obligations that fall on their shoulders. This veracity mitigates gender inequality at the workplace to some extent while facilitating a societal shift, where men contribute more to home and family caretaking duties. 

With top companies offering permanent remote positions, retaining, absorbing, and reabsorbing women into the workforce bodes well for diversity and inclusion. The state can further buttress this by implementing laws on gender equality in the workplace. In Iceland, for example, it is against the law to pay women less than men; the country also ranks first in gender equality.  

Remote work also greatly reduces discrimination and harassment in the workplace, owing to the human physical absence at work. Women can now work in an environment that isn’t entirely out of their control. Stereotypical perceptions of married women, pregnant women, single mothers, divorced women, disabled women, and women of color also wear down when the workplace is remote. In turn, these favorable realities of remote women workers will meet an organization’s diversity and inclusion targets. 

What about other forms of prejudice in the workplace? 

Physical absence and isolation are often touted as drawbacks of remote work. It is also true that employers get a global pool of talent when their organizations immerse themselves in remote work – this would include employees from diverse ethnicities. 

However, the inevitable physical absence and isolation in remote work dilute ethnocentrism, racism, and other prejudices. When you’re not visually present, the focus on your race, ethnicity, gender spectrum, or sexual orientation spectrum becomes lesser. Your productivity and work performance speak louder than any prevalent stereotypes. Long-held stereotypes and sweeping perceptions are more likely to be broken in the remote work realm. This in turn encourages diversity and workplace rapport despite all the differences in cultural norms and ethnic practices among workers. 

Remote work has the potential to blur racial lines and create a common ground that only professionalism is critical in the workplace, not cultural practices, not dietary habits, not skin color, not minority groups issues, not religious beliefs, or lack thereof. However, the company must not rest on its laurels and just let the nature of remote work do the job of eliminating discrimination along these lines. Proactive measures must be taken to further foster remote workplace camaraderie where co-workers learn more about each other and understand themselves better. 

Genashtim dynamically pursues good fellowships among co-workers by holding cross-departmental virtual coffee sessions known as “GTribe meetings” every month. Teams and departments have their own weekly, biweekly, or monthly virtual coffee sessions as well. These virtual coffee sessions play a huge role in building trust and understanding; the meetings even inspire awe among co-workers coming from different countries and cultures. Co-workers are often surprised by how similar they are in certain aspects such as food and languages and how distinctive other aspects are. The virtual coffee sessions are eye-openers and unifiers rolled into one. The laughter and good-natured humor are a bonus! Nothing connects people more than sharing their lives and experiences and this also applies in remote workplaces. 

Through remote workplace goodwill activities, racism within the workplace and indirect discrimination in the workplace can be effectively curbed. More than tolerance, understanding, and acceptance need to be developed within the remote workplace. Conviviality is a must! 

Mental health is not to be overlooked in remote offices for extended diversity and inclusion

Lately, mental health features as a priority in workplaces and it is more so in remote work. While the flexible nature of remote work allows for greater care of mental health, when it comes to diversity and inclusion, hiring remote workers with mental health issues is a different condition altogether.  

People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other medical conditions are especially suited to working remotely – they can actually thrive as remote workers. Remote companies that are looking to further enrich the diversity and inclusion in their workforce should seriously consider hiring people with mental health conditions and make actionable work policies to support them.  

Some of Genashtim’s women employees are from Afghanistan. The war-torn country’s political turmoil and violence affected women employees’ mental health, as feelings of insecurity and foreboding pervade. With Genashtim’s in-house counselor’s help, these women workers were able to regain their mental equilibrium. 

Mental health discrimination in the workplace is a real problem that needs continual redress. Neurotypical workers must be receptive to their neurodivergent colleagues and treat them with dignity, respect, and kindness. Neurodiversity in an organization’s staff impacts the organization’s diversity and inclusion endeavors in many positive ways. 

Remote work is quickly turning PWDs into prized employees. 

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 26% of American employees have a disability. 

This implies that PWDs aren’t preferred workers as their disabilities come at a cost for the company. Ramps need to be installed in the office building. A separate restroom is required. Doors need to be wheelchair accessible. Since the world is built for able-bodied people, companies prefer to hire able-bodied people. There exists a lack of will on behalf of employers to hire PWDs in a conventional office setting. 

Worse, PWDs are considered inefficient workers. There is a widely held belief that PWDs are not as skilled or motivated as their able-bodied counterparts. Such preconceived notions about PWDs are being challenged by remote work norms. 

For starters, PWDs remote workers work in a home office setup that is personalized to their unique cases. Here, half the battle is already won because PWD employees already have a workplace that is conducive to their special needs and work productivity. With technology, even quadriplegics are employable – they use speech recognition software to use the computer and work. They can even type faster and more efficiently than able-bodied employees. 

Working from home reduces disability visibility so the likelihood of PWD discrimination in the workplace considerably lessens. Remote work also allows PWD workers to work at their own pace and manage their medical conditions if any. Remote PWD employees don’t have to struggle to get and keep a job. As more businesses embrace remote work, PWDs will have greater access to the workforce and be able to contribute to society.  

It goes without saying that remote-first/remote-friendly companies will have more organizational diversity and inclusion in all their work processes by recruiting talented PWD workers. 

Maintaining diversity and inclusion requires consistent efforts

Remote work can only get the diversity and inclusion goals of a company halfway; just hiring employees from diverse backgrounds is insufficient. To strengthen diversity and inclusion in your organization, they should be integrated into the company’s culture, core principles, and overall business strategy. 

HR representatives must be well-informed about the issues that underrepresented groups face and take mitigation steps – their complaints and suggestions need to be heard and acted on, wherever and whenever expedient and crucial. 

Companies must provide means where employees can communicate their expectations regarding inclusion and diversity. Subsequently, management must implement the appropriate strategies to contribute to the company’s diversity and inclusion efforts. 

A work culture that values and supports all employees equally must be created and consistently updated to ensure that workers are treated fairly and equally in these aspects: 

• Onboarding processes  
• Performance reviews
• Training sessions 
• Workplace communication channels 

A company can only experience meaningful and measurable changes by prioritizing diversity, inclusion, and equity throughout all parts of the employee’s journey. An organization’s diversity and inclusion will only succeed when everyone feels welcome and has genuine growth opportunities.