Remote work is becoming a boon for people with disabilities (PWDs). Once sidelined, discriminated against, and perceived as both a burden and collateral, PWDs are now joining the workforce in droves. Organizations emphasizing diversity and inclusion are one contributing factor to this veracity; remote work is another. 

“Disability is a matter of perception.  If you can do just one thing well, you’re needed by someone.”

– Martina Navratilova

Imagine being so independent and self-sufficient, others rely on you. 

Now, imagine losing your independence and self-sufficiency; you rely on others. 

This dramatic shift happened to me when I was twenty years old. From a bike rider, I became a wheelchair user in the span of a year owing to my late diagnosis of Wilson’s Disease, a rare genetic condition that will kill without lifelong medication. As my medical condition progressed through the years, I was left with the question, “What do I do now? 

I wanted to be useful despite my disabilities. I knew I can still do things others doubted I can. I was blogging and writing to the local newspapers. However, these were not very beneficial – I had no monetary compensation. My income through online freelancing was unstable. I didn’t know where to head with this great uncertainty.  

An opportunity came knocking when Genashtim Pte Ltd offered me a job as a Content Writer in June 2019. I gladly accepted the offer and started working for this remote-first company that “floats somewhere in the clouds.” Genashtim has no physical office, and all its employees work remotely from home.  

In my remote work journey, I witnessed how remote work empowers PWDs and how PWDs fortify the global workforce and I would like to share my experience.

Remote work is proving that PWDs can be as efficient and valuable as able-bodied workers

I was floored when I got to know that there are so many like me working at Genashtim. 

I learned about the potential of remote work when I got to know my disabled colleagues, some of whom, cannot move anything below their necks. They are so fast and efficient; I was awed. 

I realized that my colleagues never use their disability or medical condition as an excuse not to show up and step up at work. They devise their own methods to work – from using speech recognition software to chopsticks. 

What’s even more interesting, Genashtim’s clients do not know that their service providers are visually and mobility impaired. The company doesn’t make it a point to divulge that information either. That’s because Thomas Ng, the Founder and CEO of Genashtim made it clear that Genashtim isn’t a charitable organization. It’s a for-profit social enterprise. For the company to grow in workforce and business capacity – professionalism, efficiency, and dynamism cannot be compromised. Hence, disability is irrelevant. 

Remote work harnesses the expertise and mastery of disabled workers

PWDs are gaining ground in academic fields and skill areas; however, finding sustainable and gainful employment is a different story.  

In fact, Thomas started Genashtim with a ground-breaking remote model to employ students from a blind school in Manila. He was one of the blind school’s board of trustees and saw that despite the students’ stellar computer skills, they weren’t getting employed. Then, Thomas took it upon himself to hire them and started Genashtim in 2008 for that purpose. 

Since then, Genashtim has employed numerous skilled and qualified PWDs who then helped the company scale up and expand the business, bringing in more profits. 

One of my colleagues, Roldan Pagaduan has a degree in education. However, finding a teaching position proved to be challenging for him. Even when he found a job, he was discriminated against because of his disability. And then Genashtim came along, and now he is very happy to find a workplace where his talents and acumen are the only things that matter. 

Skill, reskill and upskill while working remotely! 

There were a lot of self-doubts after I started working at Genashtim. I don’t have a college degree. Neither do I have professional work experience. And I wondered how I’d work without such qualifications and navigate only using what I taught myself.   

I got the answers when I learned that many of Genashtim’s PWD employees’ work skills are self-taught. The company funds training and in-house courses to upskill its employees. I underwent a lot of training and took courses, acquiring new skills while honing my existing ones. I felt like I was catching up from where I left off.  

Remote employment didn’t only provide me with financial independence, it also opened ways for more learning. For instance, I work in the Language Department and during the weekly Touchbase meetings, each team member takes turns in elaborately presenting a topic that is relevant to learning. 

Remote work makes work accessible to PWDs

It’s nearly impossible for me, a wheelchair user, to commute to work five days a week. On top of that, my medical condition requires me to take medication thrice a day. I also have dietary restrictions and vomiting episodes caused by bouts of migraines. In a conventional workplace, I’d be the odd one out. 

In addition to that, office buildings and washroom accessibilities for PWDs are not ubiquitous as well. Few employers have the will to make workplaces accessible for disabled workers – it takes extra space and cost. 

Remote work provides a solution to this. I have renovated my house to accommodate wheelchair use. My work-from-home station is built by me, for me. I was able to work from a care facility when my mother was recovering from eye surgery and unable to care for me. Remote work enables PWDs to personalize their work environment to suit their special needs so they can be at their most productive. This was Thomas’s vision when he first started Genashtim. 

Genashtim’s Total Flexible Initiative – from Livelihood to Life provides Genashtim’s employees, the disabled ones in particular, with greater work-life integration. It’s called the Take Some policy where employees can take unlimited leaves. This is another commitment to work accessibility where employees bring the best of themselves to work as they are at their peak condition which is especially true for disabled workers. I cannot work when I am having a migraine attack. I take a day or two off and come back stronger and more pumped to execute my tasks. There is a tacit and mutual understanding between me and Genashtim as an organization, whereby I apply self-accountability, transparency, and honesty. 

Remote work is for everyone

Everyone is amazed once they learn that I am a full-time employee. They cannot imagine a person like me working and earning. The concept of remote work is vague to them – understanding Genashtim as a company is also a work in progress for my family and friends. 

I have become an advocate for remote work, and have recommended it to my friends and social media followers. When the former Malaysian Human Resource minister, YB Kulasegaran visited me, I discussed remote work with him and shared details about how I work remotely. 

Remote work doesn’t only provide sustainable, gainful, and safe employment for PWDs, but it also has many benefits for able-bodied workers: 

• Provides freedom and flexibility
• Cuts costs
• Saves time
• The worker’s location is irrelevant
• Highly customizable
• Provides better work-life integration

A word of caution to live by…   

Remote job scams advertised on social media and WhatsApp texts promising sky-high wages for menial work are victimizing many. Horror stories have emerged from victims of these job scams in Malaysia. 

You should only trust legitimate remote jobs advertised on sites like JEDI Jobs, an online remote job portal designed to bring remote employment with full benefits offered by global employers. 

I urge you to register with JEDI Jobs here, especially if you are disabled and looking for employment rather than proceeding with dubious, too-good-to-be-true salary packages for data entry work offered as remote jobs on Facebook.