Okta has decided to offer remote work-from-home opportunities to attract the best talent. The company is looking for software engineers, product managers, and designers who will be able to work remotely. Approximately 40% of the workforce in the United States has a job that permits some type of telecommuting. Airbnb has tested the idea for a while and decided to switch to permanent remote work from home. These benefits employees as they can help them stay connected with their family, friends, and community while taking on responsibility and having time for themselves. In November 2016, Square switched from a WFH model to permanent remote work.

But I was forced to do that and once I saw it happen and see those people get integrated and be productive, then… I said ‘Oh, we should do this forever,’” said Cancel. Here’s what happened when these companies decided to pivot to remote work full-time. As the pandemic heads into yet another year, companies are still grappling with uncertainty in the workplace. Interactions also uses a social recognition platform, Shine, through which employees can take note of the work their peers have done. The platform allows employees to send, like and comment on recognition “cards” and is similar to an internal Facebook page, Clermont said. To that end, Interactions created an in-house playbook for virtual work.

The six biggest downsides to remote work

Perhaps the biggest benefit of remote work to employers is the opportunity to tap into a wider talent pool by allowing them to hire skilled applicants from anywhere in the world. Employers can now find the right applicant for any given position regardless of their location. Slack develops real-time collaboration applications that provide messaging, video and voice calls, integrated file sharing, and other services to organizations across the globe. Microsoft is a multinational technology company that manufactures and develops computer software, consumer electronics, and personal computers. The company has tripled in size during the pandemic and being fully remote has allowed it to build a more diverse team.

For about 85% of TIAA employees, the office is optional – at least part of the time. The Charlotte, NC office remodeled in the interest of more flexible work set-ups while the 73 other offices remain open for employees.

Every Company Offering Paid Sabbaticals

Moreover, 34% of workers with less than 5 years of experience in their role feel less productive working from home – likely because they lack the support and guidance of more experienced employees. Nonetheless, 55% of workers would still prefer to work remotely three or more days a week.

A coronavirus-driven shift to remote work has been seamless enough for some companies to ditch physical offices altogether. Microsoft announced greater flexibility around its remote work policies in October. An internal memo obtained by the Verge revealed that employees would be allowed to telecommute up companies going remote permanently to 50% of the workweek, or get their managers’ approval to permanently work remotely. A week after Twitter’s remote-work announcement, Dorsey’s second company followed suit. As with Twitter, Square’s policy applies to employees who are physically able to do their jobs remotely, the Verge reported in May.

Keeping workers happy

Fifty-eight percent of all businesses that still have office space say they downsized since March 2020. Much of the speculation about whether the temporary shift to remote work would become permanent revolved around how employees felt about working from home.