Additional remote positions do not make a company remote-first any more than additional @media queries make a desktop website mobile-first.
To understand what real “remote first” might mean, let’s define the status quo: “in-person first”.
To me, in-person-first companies are those in which being a remote employee means hampered career potential, and mingling with the right people at the headquarters is sooner or later required to advance.
By that logic, remote-first companies either flip that on its head, or at least make personal presence not a factor while encouraging remote participation.
Becoming X-first implies a fundamental shift. Improving X does make you more X, though.
To understand what real “remote first” might mean, let’s define the status quo: “in-person first”.
To me, in-person-first companies are those in which being a remote employee means hampered career potential, and mingling with the right people at the headquarters is sooner or later required to advance.
By that logic, remote-first companies either flip that on its head, or at least make personal presence not a factor while encouraging remote participation.
Becoming X-first implies a fundamental shift. Improving X does make you more X, though.