When Diego Escobar took a remote job at Airspan in Colombia, his friends and family struggled to understand how he could work for a multinational company without leaving home. That was 2009. Here Diego explains why he hasn’t looked back since… 

I like to think of myself as a remote working pioneer. 

I’ve worked from home ever since I joined Airspan more than a decade ago. At the start, it raised a few eyebrows. People would ask me if I was unemployed, or whether my work was legitimate. I had endless discussions with my bank to explain my monthly income. At that time, the only accepted option in Colombia was to work in an office building. I can’t help smiling when I think about how much has changed. 

When Airspan first entered Colombia, we had just four engineers here. It was smart of the company to recognise the value of remote working all those years ago. As a small and agile business at the time, Airspan understood that offering flexibility was a way of expanding the business and accessing talent outside of the US. 

Now there are more than 25 of us who support the whole of the Americas, working with the sales team to explain the technical features of our products to customers. Over the years, I’ve also created hundreds of network designs that have supported the deployment of a large number of wireless networks across the region. I’m proud that my designs have been used to connect thousands of people, many of whom didn’t have internet access beforehand. 

These days, I’m living back in my hometown. Working remotely allowed me to move to be closer to my family. The flexibility has also meant I could study, spend time with my wife, and look after our young daughter. A few times, big telecoms companies have asked me to come and work for them, but I’ve always said no because that would mean moving to Bogotá and returning to office life. 

Some people are still sceptical about remote working, but often it’s because they haven’t fixed the teething problems. Airspan’s advantage is we’ve been doing it for so long, we know how to do it properly. Everyone is committed and agile. My boss is in Israel and we have meetings every other week. As long as you do your job and meet your deadlines, no one is on your back. 

It’s easily the best working experience I’ve ever had.