Like our fellow flexible working advocates of the world, we believe this is the future. Non-traditional working opens up countless opportunities for international collaboration which in turn encourages diversity and inclusion across a lot of areas that we progress to learning more about.
One reason why we love remote working and one which we feel strongly about is that it can encourage diversity and inclusion globally.
Remote working means we can break free from the divides that have been created by single country working and connect with people we might not have interacted with in the past. Companies can literally hire talent from all over the world, ultimately bringing together people of contrasting backgrounds, beliefs and origins in a harmonious, professional, and productive environment.
This encourages diversity and inclusion on so many levels. Here are some areas relevant to diversity and inclusion that we are excited remote working positively influencing:
Mental Health issues – the option to work in your own time, with a more relaxed schedule and location is a huge help for people who either have a long standing mental health condition, are neuro-diverse or are going through a mental challenge like grief, loss, anxiety, depression. These things all exist and we need to start taking them into perspective when thinking about common human activities like work. Not everyone can work the neuro-typical way and adaptable working can be a good option for those with cognitive challenges.
Disabled people– commuting, comfortable bathrooms and non-accessible office spaces are just a few of the challenges that physically disabled may struggle with in the generic corporate working culture that is populised now.
Races, Gender & Ageism– Let’s face it! Unfortunately, discrimination, racism, sexism, ageism, micro-aggressions, and prejudice all exist in our global society. Remote work brings people together from different countries, religions, genders and backgrounds, encouraging them to work together, to find some common ground. Because guess what, humans are similar in other places as they are also, well, human! However sometimes there’s not too much opportunity for people to actually integrate with certain types of people on a professional level like in business. Remote working, if executed correctly, is pure magic worldwide employment!
LGBTQIA+ – This community face their own set of unique challenges and remote work allows people to create understanding and progress humanity further with regards to sexuality and gender identity. Whilst the world is progressing, being homosexual is still surprisingly illegal in A LOT of countries. Whilst that seems madness to me who is from UK, others do have opposing experiences with this. Remote working allows people from different cultures, beliefs and religions to come together with mutual professional interest and respect. With the right guidance, this is where understanding and tolerance and compassion is created!
Parents – Remote working gives the opportunity for more autonomy to schedule meetings around school pick ups, PTA meeting, or doctors appointments. Parents need flexibility, the time and energy back that remote working provides. Granted, some parents may not actually want to work from home if they don’t have a lot of space and are surrounded by playful kids. Flexible working however provides the opportunity to explore that however you like. Besides, from what I gather, childcare is rather expensive! So if you can stay home and work whilst caring for your children, amazing!
Campaigning and protesting is prominent in todays world and people want to be listened to. Remote working allows humans to embrace their individual style and schedule for working. People are multi-passionate and complex and could actually consider multiple careers, freelancing, co-creation or even entrepreneurship now. Remote working allows people to be creative and find a work style that works for their unique makeup.
This is not to say that these collaborations couldn’t also happen in traditional office life but I do think the cross-cultural and contradictory belief interactions are less likely.
Remote work promotes access, participation and progression in employability for the neurodiverse, minority groups and those with more unique everyday challenges. Intersectionality can also be tackled here too as ultimately remote working is bringing together of a diverse range and combination of challenges. It is encouraging diverse interactions and cooperation between people that may not gravitate towards each other naturally in their lives.
