Automattic wants to build a new web, and a new type of workplace.  We want to deliver world-class 24/7 support to our users, and an innovative, exciting, and healthy work environment for our staff worldwide. As a part of  this, we recruit from all timezones so that everyone has the freedom to choose their own work hours.

In Happiness in particular, we want to provide better support coverage in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, and our APAC recruiting efforts have included everything from advertising on social media and job boards to in-person networking at WordCamps and WordPress Meetups.

While we've hired some great Happiness Engineers, we discovered that the ratio of women applicants was dropping over time. As awareness of Automattic as a distributed employer has grown in the region, the number of applications from men has grown faster than those from women.

Given Automattic's commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion, we brainstormed ways to reach women more effectively. This turned into a series of workshops on WooCommerce held for women in India and Singapore throughout 2018.

In 2019 we'll take our message to a broader audience by offering an online workshop. This will let us reach women in many more countries and cities than we could ever visit in a calendar year. We're partnering with Support Driven, an online community of support professionals, to promote support as a career for women who may have the relevant skills but haven't applied for these roles.

In January 2019 we'll launch the first online workshop for women in APAC focused on developing skills in WordPress support. The course will cover:

  • Goals of great customer support
  • Developing your own support philosophy
  • WordPress troubleshooting
  • Productivity tools
  • Support as a career

By the end of the course, students will have developed a résumé and portfolio site on WordPress to share with potential employers.

Want to be notified about this and other upcoming workshops? Sign up here!

Photo by Elijah O'Donnell on Unsplash.