Angie
Stenvall
People Strategy Lead at AspireActs
"When Flexibility Isn’t Neutral: How Remote & Hybrid Work Shapes Opportunity at Work"
"When Flexibility Isn’t Neutral: How Remote & Hybrid Work Shapes Opportunity at Work"
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Session: When Flexibility Isn’t Neutral: How Remote & Hybrid Work Shapes Opportunity at Work
Remote and hybrid work are often framed as universally positive — flexible, inclusive, and empowering.But flexibility is not always neutral.
In this session, we’ll explore how remote and hybrid work have reshaped visibility, access to opportunity, and career progression in tech, and why the same policies can produce very different outcomes for different people.
Drawing on organizational psychology, post-pandemic research, and real-world patterns observed across tech organizations, this talk examines how flexible work has enabled many individuals to better integrate work and life, whether due to caregiving responsibilities, health needs, geography, neurodiversity, or personal values — while also introducing new risks.
We’ll look at how proximity bias, visibility-based reward systems, and poorly designed hybrid models can unintentionally favour those who are more able or willing to be physically present, reinforcing inequality despite good intentions, and how individuals and leaders can navigate these dynamics in practice.
This is not a debate about remote vs office. It is a conversation about how we design work systems that are fair, inclusive, and performance-focused — so that flexibility expands opportunity rather than becoming a hidden career trade-off.
Key Takeaways
- Why flexibility is not neutral and can shape opportunity and career outcomes differently.
- How visibility, trust, and recognition are formed in remote and hybrid environments.
- How hybrid and return-to-office approaches can unintentionally reward presence over impact
- What role leadership and system design play in creating fair and inclusive outcomes.
- How individuals and leaders can navigate flexible work environments more intentionally in practice.
Bio
Angie Stenvall is an HR leader and organizational consultant with 15+ years of experience working with fast-paced startups and global tech organizations. She specializes in remote and hybrid work, leadership, and the human impact of organizational change. Angie also lectures in academic and research settings, bridging psychology, data, and real-world practice to help organizations build more sustainable and human-centered ways of working.