In 2025, nearly every company markets itself as “remote” to some degree. Whether it be remote working options, WFH flexibility, or straight up calling themselves remote first. But dig beneath the surface, and you’ll find there’s a critical difference between companies that truly design for remote work and those that simply allow it. The difference doesn’t just shape your productivity or flexibility. It shapes your sense of belonging.

Remote work, at its best, opens doors. It provides flexibility, access, and equity. But when done without intention, it can quietly close those doors just as quickly.

This isn’t a post about remote work logistics. It’s a reflection on inclusion. Specifically, how companies can unintentionally leave people out, even when they claim to be remote-first.

The Two Kinds of Remote

Let’s start with a simple framework:

Remote-First: These companies are built around the assumption that no one is in the same room. Leadership, communication, and culture are distributed by design. Offices may exist, but they’re optional, not central.

Remote-Allowed: These companies let employees work remotely, but their systems, culture, and leadership still revolve around a physical location. The office is still the center of gravity.

Many companies call themselves remote-first. But if the heart of the organization still lives in a single city—with leadership, socials, and influence orbiting that place—then it’s remote in name only.

And that has real consequences.

What It Feels Like to Work Outside the "Center"

Imagine this:

You’re on a video call with your team. The meeting ends. A few people laugh and say, “Let’s keep chatting over coffee!” They all happen to live near the office. You log off.

Or after a team meeting, an impromptu brainstorm continues in the hallway. The direction of the project shifts—and by the time you’re looped in, decisions have already been made.

Or there’s a company social event, but it’s happening in one city. There’s no budget to fly in, no alternative experience offered. You’re not invited in a formal sense, but you’re not really included either.

Over time, these moments add up. They don’t feel cruel. They feel... subtle. Like you’re always one step behind or slightly outside the circle.

It’s not that people are being intentionally exclusive. It’s that the system wasn’t built to include you.

Inclusion Is More Than a Policy—It’s a Feeling

True inclusion isn’t just about offering remote work. It’s about designing a culture where everyone feels like they belong—no matter where they live.

When connection, opportunity, and visibility are centered around a physical office, even unconsciously, it sends a message: “The real team is here. The rest of you are somewhere else.”

That can be especially hard for:

Caregivers or parents who can’t easily travel to HQ
Employees in different time zones or regions
Team members with disabilities or chronic illness
People who don’t thrive in high-social office environments

Remote work was supposed to open the door wider. But without care, it quietly reintroduces the same barriers it set out to remove.

Common Signs a Company Isn’t Truly Remote-First

Here are a few signs that a company allows remote work, but hasn’t fully designed for it:

All offsites happen in the same city
Most leadership lives near HQ and has informal access to each other
Meetings are always scheduled around one time zone
Post-meeting discussions continue in person
Social events are in-person only with no remote equivalent
Key decisions get made offline, then summarized later (or not at all)

No single one of these is an indictment. But together, they tell a story. A story where some people are in the room—and some are always dialing in.

What Inclusion Looks Like in a Remote-First Company

The best remote-first organizations do more than offer flexibility. They engineer equity. Here’s what that can look like:

Rotating offsite locations, or choosing neutral meeting places
Culture budgets that give remote team members ways to celebrate and connect locally
Shared core hours for collaboration, but async-first communication for everything else
Equal access to mentorship and leadership, regardless of geography
Clear promotion processes based on outcomes, not presence
Virtual-first rituals, like team wins, celebrations, and onboarding experiences that make everyone feel seen

When companies take these steps, remote workers don’t feel like exceptions. They feel like insiders.

Why This Matters

Inclusion isn’t about being nice. It’s about being fair.

People who work remotely in name-only cultures often find themselves working harder to be seen, looping back for context, or feeling disconnected from the company’s core identity. That experience can lead to:

Reduced engagement
Higher turnover
Missed leadership potential
Feelings of isolation or burnout

Inclusion is about more than whether you show up on Zoom. It’s about whether you feel like you matter when you do.

A More Inclusive Remote Future

Remote work has the potential to be the most inclusive work model we’ve ever seen. But only if we design it that way.

It requires asking hard questions:

Are we making decisions in ways that are accessible to all?
Do our culture rituals include everyone—or just the people who live near each other?
Are our processes designed for documentation and clarity?
Is our leadership distributed?

Inclusion doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design.

Final Thoughts

Remote work offers freedom. But freedom without inclusion is just a different kind of barrier.

If your company wants to be remote-first, it has to do more than allow you to work from anywhere. It needs to ensure that wherever you work, you’re not left out.

So ask the deeper question:

Are we offering remote work as a perk? Or are we building a culture where everyone can truly belong?

The answer might be the difference between just working from home—and working in a place where you feel fully part of the team.

If this resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone building a remote team. Sometimes the path to inclusion starts with simply seeing what others might be missing.

Remote by Design or Remote by Default? Why Inclusion in Remote Work Needs to Be Intentional