How remote work contributes to global equity.

I’m reading this cascade of news where top employers announce their new remote work policies and some thoughts that I’ve had for a while, finally obtain a shape in my head.

I’m thinking about diversity and equity.

“Equity is an approach that ensures everyone access to the same opportunities. Equity recognizes that advantages and barriers exist, and that, as a result, we all don’t all start from the same place. Equity is a process that begins by acknowledging that unequal starting place and continues to correct and address the imbalance.”

Since my university years, I’ve been dreaming big and wanted to work for leading companies, making a difference in the industries they belong to. Being originally from Ukraine, I have learned that if I want to build my career, I need to relocate, otherwise my options are quite limited and there is always a certain ceiling that I will hit by not being ready to move.

For some time I worked in Canada, moved back to Ukraine, then had plans to move to California. I love diversity and learning of new cultures, so such a perspective seemed quite exciting. And then I became a mother for the first time. And things turned to be not as easy as I would imagine myself. And there came new priorities. I still badly wanted to live in different countries, but some of my obvious choices were not matching my family priorities anymore.

The turning moment for me was when I’ve got my first remote job. I’ve had an opportunity to work for an amazing team and with a great product without the need to relocate! My skills were more important for them, then my location and citizenship.

Thanks to remote work, later my family was able to move to Spain, one of my dream destinations, while I kept working for the same company with an HQ in Asia.

I think at that time I didn’t even realize that remote work can be a real privilege. Not until I had to look for a new job after my second son was born. Naturally, a lot of positions that matched my experience and skills belonged to the companies located either in the Bay Area or London. And none of them was offering an option to work remotely!

Recruiters kept telling that they would happily review my application if I consider relocation. Instead, I had to prioritize my family situation again and give up dreaming big. I’ve been stuck again. And I knew that I’m not alone in this. I was stumbled with the feeling of inequity. Understanding that your location or citizenship can define your career choices. Companies, talking a lot about diversity and inclusion, don’t take any steps to introduce work from home policies that would help millions of people get equal access to various career opportunities.

This is when I decided to become a remote work ambassador. To talk about the importance of a flexible set up, to review different cases and products that help to improve productivity when working from home. To help others, who are in a similar situation, learn about an alternative to the office and how to succeed in it.

I didn’t get to work for Facebook or Amazon. Instead, I chose to work for 100% distributed teams, for companies where remote work has become a part of their DNA. I also made a career transition to be able to directly work with products that contribute to remote work productivity.

Over the recent weeks, some of the largest companies in the world, like Twitter, Square, Shopify and even Facebook today, have announced that they are going fully or partially remote. The deadly virus has changed the game. Something that we, as a remote community, were standing for and expecting to slowly being adopted over the years, has become reality in a matter of months.

This news means more diversity in the companies who were limited with mostly the local talent (or to those candidates who are ready to relocate and therefore eventually become locals). And it means more equity to the global workforce, equal access to jobs and versatile career roads, possibility to combine successful work in the company of your dreams with work from home set up to take care of sick parents or kids.

I want to believe that this is the beginning of a better future, more sustainable and fair to all of us.

Is your company ready to embrace remote work and contribute to global equity?