How The Diaspora Is Making a Difference in Lebanon: Remote Work
YouTube™ Video Preamble
Listen to the preamble to this white-paper by Jorj Sayde, a Canadian with Lebanese ancestry.
Express Your Interest! Upcoming Project
A project is being developed to encourage remote work collaboration between the diaspora and The Lebanese. Express an interest to hear more about the upcoming project by sending an email to remoteworklebanon@outlook.com with the subject line ‘REMOTEWORK PROJECT’. Exciting news will be sent to you, including information about how you can participate in the project.
Overview
The Lebanese diaspora has had a longstanding history of supporting friends, family, colleagues, and even complete strangers in Lebanon, but more recently, internet related technologies are enhancing this relationship by permitting remote work collaboration. Remote work opportunities that are offered by the diaspora community or even by non-diaspora communities are helping the Lebanese, namely by providing an alternative way to earn an income outside of Lebanon’s nearly failed economy. Such remote work relationships have the potential to not only help The Lebanese earn an income, which helps them and their families survive and thrive, but it also broadens horizons as to what is possible through remote work enabled by internet technologies: to work, to learn, to build relationships, and much more.
What is remote work?
Remote work could be simply defined as work performed or facilitated through internet technologies. Such a ‘system’ is composed of several important things, namely a computer, a smartphone, a reasonably reliable internet connection, and software. The software could be further divided into several types, that which is
installed locally on a computer (or smartphone) and that which is used through an internet website (i.e., online software used through an internet connection). The remote work collaboration typically consists of two parties, that which offers the work and that which does the work. And in some cases, an agent or agency facilitates the relationship between the two parties, those who offer work and those who do work.
What types of work can be done remotely?
The types of work that can be performed remotely varies widely, but generally, the work involves the offering of a service, as opposed the offering of products. Accounting, bookkeeping, graphic design, social media management, teaching or tutoring, engineering & design, and many more services are offered through remote work with great success. As an example, Fiverr.com, one of the popular remote work portals, illustrates through the varied categories of work listed on the website the potential of remote work. Ultimately, creativity, ingenuity, and a willingness to collaborate are key ingredients in requesting and delivering service-oriented work through remote work.
Remote Work: The Role of the Lebanese Diaspora
The Lebanese Diaspora, which have immigrated, settled, and raised families abroad are uniquely positioned to participate in remote work collaborations with those still residing within Lebanon. The Lebanese Diaspora, especially those who have been educated outside of Lebanon, are uniquely positioned to be mentor-leaders. Especially true for those living in Western developed nations (e.g., Canada, United States, Australia, Europe), The Diaspora have access to knowledge, experience, education, training, and technologies that, for whatever reason, may not be familiar or accessible to the Lebanese. Simply put, The Diaspora can take the first step, either by directly offering work or in an agent capacity, facilitating the relationship between those that have work and those who can do it. Either through already established relationships or public forums, social media, or job sites, The Diaspora can broadcast remote work (or volunteer) opportunities. In fact, as part of their community mandates, non-profit organizations serving The Diaspora,
should include remote work collaboration as part of their human resources strategies, as many talented, educated, and experienced Lebanese are ready to offer their services.
Remote Work: The Role of The Lebanese
For The Lebanese, remote work, especially for those with limited technology literacy, is something of a miracle. The opportunity to work for someone who is on the other side of the world is unprecedented. The Lebanese, when they’re ready to offer their services remotely, first should express such an interest to their immediate network: to family, friends, and colleagues abroad. If this doesn’t yield opportunities, they should consider directly engaging organizations, such as non-profits or businesses, as well as agents (or agencies). Many remote work collaboration websites have sprung up over the last decade, such as Fiverr.com and others, that help connect remote work participants. Social media should not be discounted, as it is a powerful tool to broadcast and communicate with potential employers. Ensuring your resume is reviewed and updated is critical when applying for more formal work, and considering making a YouTube video to promote yourself is a great idea. For The Lebanese, it’s important to be flexible, adaptable, coachable, and genuinely interested in the remote work relationship. Once work is performed, and if it is performed well, referrals will start feeding your prospect ‘pipeline’ of potential remote work customers.
What Are The Benefits?
For The Diaspora or Others
- Access to an identified talent pool with a shortage of work that possesses often unique language skills, including Arabic, English, and French.
- Workers may be more flexible in terms of schedule, rates, and delivery models.
- Opportunity to be a mentor-leader, not only through work, but also mentorship, education, and exchange of experiences & knowledge.
- In an agent (or agency) capacity, helping be an ambassador between your community and The Lebanese.
- Remote work model can be done as for-profit, non-profit, or simply as a volunteer.
- Such work presents opportunities to offer fair-trade work, where wages are more or less, comparable to those paid abroad.
- For more sophisticated work arrangements, cloud software permits restricted access, enhanced security, auditability, and remote virtual office build-outs without the capital investment in office related infrastructure (e.g., real estate).
For The Lebanese Remote Worker:
- Ability to earn a wage either at fair trade levels or those higher than current wages earned within Lebanon, inclusive of the currency exchange rate. For example, if one earns $20/hour for remote work and works part-time (e.g. 20 hours per week), this would result in a monthly income of $1600. Placing this in perspective, there are trained personnel in Lebanon earning $50-$100/month for full-time work, which is not sustainable.
- Ability to support family’s needs through remote work, such as schooling, health, food, shelter, and others. Working for oneself also reduces dependency on sometimes unpredictable charitable giving of others, in of itself often a short-term solution but not sustainable nor positive for self-confidence & self-esteem.
- Can be done as an accompaniment to existing work (e.g. part-time, casual, or side-gig).
- Can receive mentorship from those outside of Lebanon, including access to new resources, such as technologies, learning & education, information exchange, and greater social connection.
- Eliminates driving, reducing costs such as gas, vehicle maintenance, and risks of moving around Lebanon. This also reduces pollution and environmental impacts.
- No geographic barriers: this work can be done from any part of Lebanon, whether it be an apartment in bustling Beirut or up in a remote village. Also, it’s not weather/season dependent.
- Low in cost, with minimal barriers to entry
- Ability to develop new skills, form teams, offer services as a group, if one wishes.
- Enhancing language & communication skills, including English as a Second Language (ESL), French as a Second Language (FSL), or Spanish as a Second Language (SSL), or others through interaction with foreigners.
- In theory, no income restrictions or caps; work more and earn more.
- For parents (including single-parents), remote work might afford just the right work-life balance required.
- Avoids migration, The Lebanese leaving their homes, families, friends, and country for gainful work.
Hurdles to Overcome
Nothing is perfect, which is true of any system, and despite being seemingly perfect, the remote work collaboration specific to Lebanon does come with certain challenges that must be overcome with solutions, including:
- Time zone differences; this may or may not be an issue depending on the work requested.
- Reliable internet; this may be possibly overcome with new satellite grade internet service providers.
- Reliable power; this may be overcome by using generators, solar technologies, and pre-charged batteries.
- Language & cultural differences; inevitably, working with anyone, especially someone foreign, will require ‘normalization’ of language and cultural standards, including work standards, to ensure proper work delivery and relationship management.
- Remote work can be alienating, limiting face-to-face interaction with colleagues.
Enormous Economic Potential
Remote work collaboration to offer services is just the beginning, and upon further exploration, one can see the enormous economic potential of similar or hybrid work arrangements. According to Wikipedia, The Diaspora consists of millions of people, much greater than the population of those residing in Lebanon. If remote work, or some of the models below were used, it could change significantly the lives of The Lebanese. Here are just a few of the exciting areas where remote work collaboration could unlock economic benefits, not only for The Lebanese, but also for The Diaspora:
- Information Technology Services
- Digital Media
- Software & Web Development
- Engineering & Design
- 3D Printing
- Remote Education & Training
- Drop-Shipping
- Micro-Finance for Startups & Cottage Industries
- Just-In-Time Support & Supply Chains
- Virtual Offices & Administration
Looking Forward & Summary
The Lebanese Diaspora has had a long standing tradition of helping family, friends, and complete strangers in Lebanon through charitable giving, but as an extension of that willingness to support The Lebanese, remote work collaboration is unlocking potential which was once only a dream. Not only are such opportunities inherently philanthropic, but they offer a win-win for both participants, fueld by a low-cost barrier to entry, so talented Lebanese can offer their services firstly to The Diaspora and related communities, as well as those outside The Diaspora. The future of remote work collaboration is indeed exciting, only limited by creativity, imagination and willingness of The Diaspora, which I believe must take the first step, either to engage directly with The Lebanese or act in an agent (or agency) capacity to facilitate remote work opportunities. In doing so, these mentor-leaders will be able to not only gain the satisfaction of ‘paying it back’, but they’ll also be able to export new and fresh perspectives into Lebanon, including into isolated or remote regions,
where fresh ideas, approaches, training, knowledge, and perspectives are likely useful. According to Wikipedia, there are presently more members of The Diaspora than there are citizens living inside of Lebanon, and if a small fraction of these millions of individuals engaged in in remote work collaborations, it could massively improve the lives of all Lebanese.