Remote work is still encouraged by some tech companies

While many of the biggest tech companies are joining corporate America’s efforts to force employees back into the office, Atlassian is one of those companies that remains steadfast in its support of remote work. Atlassian is committed to a workplace model where work is not mandatory, anne deanThe company’s “Team Anywhere” vice president said in an interview. With more than 11,000 employees, Atlassian is “the largest company in the world dedicated to distributed work at this scale,” she said.

Dean said the combination of remote collaboration and regular face-to-face gatherings has boosted productivity and enabled the Australian-founded software company to recruit better talent. More than half of the staff hired last year lived more than two hours away from the office, she said.

Airbnb Inc. also opposes the back-to-office movement, with the company explain The company’s roughly 6,000 employees can work from anywhere and hold regular get-togethers around product launches. Jeff Lawson, chief executive of software company Twilio Inc., said in a March interview that its 6,400 employees have no office-return policy and about 60 percent live in locations where the company has historically had no offices. . Autodesk Inc., Dropbox Inc., Okta Inc. and Gitlab Inc. are other tech employers with no mandatory work hours.

“At a time when many companies are asking employees to return to the office a certain number of days per week, Autodesk is staying the course and has no plans to force businesses to force hybrid and remote workers back into the office,” Rebecca Pearce said. in a report blog post.

Prior to joining Atlassian, Dean led Meta Platforms Inc.’s remote work initiative.Office tasks three days a week start in septemberThe social media giant has joined the ranks of major employers pushing for a return to the office. Amazon will require some corporate employees to relocate to meet new office regulations. international business machines corp.Arvind Krishna said in May Promotions will be less and less For those who are not on site. Beyond the tech sector, companies such as Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. and BlackRock Inc. are also reducing expected office hours to four days a week.

Many companies have backed away from previous positions. Zoom Video Communications Inc. said early last year that most employees would able to choose Whether to work on site.Earlier this month, it authorized at least two days Stay in the office for a week. Salesforce Inc. CEO Marc Benioff was an early and public advocate of remote work, touting the importance of working with some salespeople face-to-face call back to the corporate office.

These high-profile new assignments did not appear in the return-to-office data. Last week, attendance in the 10 largest U.S. business districts was less than half of pre-coronavirus levels, according to Kastle Systems. This figure is roughly unchanged from early 2023. Office attendance in the San Jose, California, area, home to many tech companies, was the lowest for the period at 37.5% of pre-pandemic levels.

Atlassian’s Dean said she doesn’t expect companies to unanimously adopt stricter office policies, adding that “many of these decisions are not well data-based.” Less clear goals, overcrowded inboxes, and blurred processes” are issues that can’t be resolved by simply returning to the office.

Subscribe to Well Adjusted, the newsletter from the Fortune Well team full of simple strategies to work smarter and live better. Sign up today.

Svlook

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *