Many companies around the world have realised that working remotely is the future of the workforce. It’s true that the transition to remote work might be initially disconcerting to many. But, over a year after the start of the pandemic, both employers and employees have realised the potential of working remotely.
According to tech recruiters, more than three-quarters (79%) of tech workers – the equivalent of over one million people working in the sector – want to continue working from home for the majority of the week after the pandemic.
According to Harvey Nash - UK’s leading tech recruiter - over 79% of tech professionals want to continue working from home even after the pandemic.
While many companies are still anxious about losing workplace connection, many employers - mostly the big players - have embraced the new normal. Many have extended work from home by the mid of 2021 or further. Many have even made remote work permanent.
Below are 18 companies that have switched to either long-haul work from home or permanent remote work:
Google is a world-famous multinational provider of internet-related services and products. CEO Sundar Pichai announced that the company is extending its global voluntary work from home choice through June 30, 2021.
In December 2020, the tech company even tested a “flexible workweek" model. The test entailed working for up to three days a week in the office. Employees will work at home for the rest of the week. During this, Google tested if the flexible work model leads to improved productivity, well-being, and collaboration.
As per Google's hybrid work model, employees would live within commuting distance to their offices. The company won't offer a fully-remote choice. Some employees, including those who need to access specialised equipment, may not be eligible for a flexible workweek.
Sundar Pichai says this flexibility will help employees balance their work with the health of themselves and their families. Roles that can be managed remotely, without being present in the office, can work from anywhere.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a California-based file hosting service provider. The service helps companies and individuals keep their files in sync and collaborate on projects anywhere and anytime.
Dropbox became the “virtual first” company in October 2020. The company said that when it’s safe to gather in person, they will launch Dropbox Studios - collaborative spaces in locations where they currently run offices. It will start with San Francisco, Dublin, Austin, and Seattle.
The company has made their workdays non-linear to leverage remote work while maintaining core collaboration hours. Dropbox also supports its team with re-designed processes by providing a virtual-first toolkit. The toolkit will help the public and individuals to settle in the new flexible work environment.
Coinbase
Coinbase provides global cryptocurrency services to facilitate transactions in open-source digital currencies. These include bitcoin, bitcoin, and ethereum, to name a few.
In May 2020, CEO Brian Armstrong sent a company-wide email to its employees. In the email, Armstrong told his team that they could choose to work in the office or from home after the pandemic. He said that his vision at Coinbase is to create a world with more economic and social freedom.
About 52% of Coinbase employees joined the company in the post-office world. And, 95% of them have the choice to work remotely. Originally headquartered in San Francisco, the company’s employees have dispersed across the world right from the beginning of 2020.
The company does not want to tie people to one location. In the email, Armstrong wrote that a mix of remote and in-office work allows 'de-risk centralisation in one location.
In fact, Coinbase is the “remote-first company” that allows most of its employees to work remotely indefinitely. Once pandemic restrictions end, employees can return to the office if they want. They can even choose the number of working hours they want to stay in the office for.
Infosys
I.T. bellwether Infosys serves clients in more than 50 countries worldwide. Their services include strategic consulting, engineering services, digital transformation, insights and analytics, and finance and accounting.
Nearly 97% of the employees at the company are attending office virtually, with only 2% people working from the office. Co-founder Nandan Nilekani said they managed to get about 2,40,000 employees in 40 countries moved to WFH. To support flexible working, the company has transformed its technology infrastructure as well.
Nilekani said that WFH would reduce their fixed cost due to less maintenance required. In addition, it will also reduce pressure on transportation and commuters.
On top of that, people working at Infosys are liking this trend because it allows for a proper work-life balance. Even before the pandemic, the I.T. company hired for flexible jobs in many fields, including partially remote to 100% remote work opportunities.
At least in 2021, the trend is here to stay. Talking about their future plans, Infosys may allow 33%-50% of its workforce to work remotely on a permanent basis. So, if you are in the I.T. field and want to work remotely this year, Infosys can be a great employer.
Amazon
Amazon - one of the world’s largest online retailers, employs nearly 575,700 employees globally. Recently, in light of the growing number of COVID-19 cases, the shopping giant has extended the timeline on WFH until June. Employees who work in positions that can effectively be managed from home can do so until June 30, 2021.
Amazon continues to be a source of both essential items and work-from-home jobs going into 2021, even amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The online retailer currently has more than 1,300 open full-time positions on its virtual locations career site.
Since the beginning of this year, Amazon continues to be a source of work-from-home jobs. The retailer has over 2,500 open full-time roles on its virtual locations career website.
It is primarily recruiting remote solutions architects. There are multiple vacancies in advertising, sales and account management, human resources, fulfilment and operations management, and product management. You will find opportunities in P.R., marketing and leadership management, etc. So, whatever corporate skillset, you will probably find an open work-from-home job at Amazon.
American Express
American Express (AmEx) is a global financial services company that deals in payment solutions, financial and travel management for businesses and individuals.
In January 2021, AmEx allowed employees to work from home through the U.S. Labor Day holiday in September. The company also offers a variety of virtual job roles, including customer care professionals, product managers, instructional designers, and more.
CEO Stephen Squeri said that the financial services giant would also help the New York city distribute COVID-19 vaccines to its employees.
The company sent most of its employees to work remotely last spring when the pandemic hits the country. Squeri said to employees that an extended timeline on returning to the office would allow AmEx to monitor vaccine distribution and plan accordingly.
Twitter is world-famous online news and social networking service. It allows people to interact by sending and posting short messages instantly.
The American microblogging site became the first major U.S. company to publicly announce its permanent WFH plans. It initiated the implementation of its telework plans by first identifying the benefits and pitfalls of this approach.
For the last two years, Twitter has been updating its office culture. Thus, according to a Twitter spokesperson, the company was well-positioned to respond quickly and allow teams to work from home. During this, the company emphasises decentralisation and distributed workforce that can work from anywhere.
So, Twitter employees in any role and situation can continue to work from home even after the pandemic finally overs.
VMware
VMware is a subsidiary of Dell, and it specialises in cloud and virtualisation software. It offers services and products, including data center and cloud infrastructure, cloud management, networking and security, and more.
VMware is empowering its team with the 2030 Agenda - the Future of Work Initiative. Under this agenda, VMware employees can choose to work from home permanently. Employees can work permanently remote, near a VMware office, or in the office full-time. Employees can choose to work from any location that boosts their productivity while advancing their personal and professional goals in the future.
The company noticed that employees maintain their high-performance standards through the pandemic. So, they decided to reward their team with a highly flexible new distributed workforce model. It plans to leverage emerging technologies, like virtual reality and augmented reality, to bridge distances and shape a more dynamic workforce.
Starbucks
The international coffee king, Starbucks, has extended its remote work plan to October 2021. According to CEO Kevin Johnson, the company has lengthened the WFH timeline for roughly 4,000 corporate employees.
The new workforce program emphasises remote-working technologies and hoteling features. As a result, employees can reserve parking spots and work from there for the day.
With this, the coffee empire joins global employers extending their WFH model and mending their entire workplace concept.
Quora
Mountain View-based tech firm Quora is a user-based question-and-answer platform. In January 2020, CEO Adam D'Angelo announced the company’s plan to shift to a “remote-first” workforce plan. According to this announcement, staffers at Quora can now work from anywhere they want, during and even after the pandemic.
D'Angelo says this new workforce model not just offers flexibility but addresses many other concerns among employees. With coronavirus, people are a little averse to relocation. Also, due to the changing political environment in the USA, it’s becoming hard for overseas employees to get visas. Moreover, housing prices in the Bay Area are skyrocketing, increasing living costs for folks relocating there.
Addressing all these concerns, Quora now lets people choose where to live and work from. Now, its staffers don’t have to leave their homes and can work flexibly without any constraints.
Slack
In June 2020, the San Francisco-based Slack announced its plan to embrace remote work culture for the long haul. As of now, the business communication software company will keep its offices closed until at least June 2021.
Robby Kwok, Slack's senior vice president of people, announced that Slack had joined the race to become a more distributed company. That means most staffers will be able to choose to work remotely permanently if they want. The company is also increasingly hiring employees who are permanently remote.
Slack has planned the extension of the timeline because the company prioritizes the health and safety of our employees. Kwok says they don't have a certain date when offices will reopen for limited use. But, they will constantly monitor the situation and keep people posted. Slack has well-thought plans to keep their business, products, and clients running efficiently.
Shopify
Shopify is a multichannel, cloud-based commerce platform designed for SMEs to design and manage their online stores. In May 2020, the company announced itself as a digital-by-default company. That means most of the Shopify offices will remain closed until 2021. After that, most staffers will work remotely on a permanent basis.
CEO Tobi Lütke tweeted that the office centricity is over at Shopify. The company is also experimenting to know how teleworking will affect carbon emission and energy usage.
In a series of tweets, Lütke put emphasis on the need to fill the gap between the office and the home. He says that employees working from home will enjoy equal footing as do employees working in the office. They will enjoy equal access to valuable company resources.
Microsoft
Microsoft is a multinational American multinational technology corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company develops, manufactures, and markets globally-used computer software, personal computers, and consumer electronics.
The company announced its revised remote work policies in October 2020. According to an internal memo, employees can now telecommute up to 50% of the workweek. Managers at Microsoft can now permanently work remotely.
Recently, Microsoft has launched Viva in a big bet to help its employees and other companies embrace the new normal. Microsoft Viva is an employee experience platform that brings together connections, insights, topics and learning into a central location. It integrates with Microsoft Teams to foster a culture where people can be their best working from anywhere.
META
Meta - the social media giant - allows its global team to continue to work from home until July 2021. The company is also offering an additional $1,000 bonus to help fulfil their home office needs.
Meta has reopened its Seattle office at just 10% capacity. The company will continue reopening offices with restricted capacities in limited locations where the government permits.
A Facebook spokeswoman says based on internal discussion with health and government experts, employees will continue voluntarily working from home until July. She adds that the company will take a more measured approach to permanent remote work for existing employees.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions that nearly 50 percent of Meta's employees could be remote over the next decade. So, if you want to work from home or anywhere, Meta can be a great choice in the future.
Uber
Uber is an American conglomerate that provides ride-hailing, food and package delivery, couriers, and freight transportation worldwide. In February 2021, Uber notified its employees that it had extended its work from home policy through mid-September. Last year, the company announced remote work until June 2021, and now, in the light of growing COVID-19 cases, it has extended the timeline.
Chief People Officer (CPO) Nikki Krishnamurthy says that though some roles require a physical presence in an office. But, Uber won't force staffers to come to the office. Uber is also encouraging employees to get vaccinated, and they are allowing time off for vaccination.
Salesforce
Salesforce is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco. The customer relationship management service provider is also the largest private employer in the city.
Following the other tech behemoths' footprints, Salesforce now gives all employees the choice to work from home until July 31, 2021. Employees also get a $250 bonus to buy home office supplies as needed. In addition, parents will get six additional weeks of paid time off.
In fact, Salesforce's President & Chief People Officer, Brent Hyder, has declared that 9-to-5 workday dead. Employees can choose one of three categories of flexible work:
- Flex: Come to the office 1-3 days a week
- Fully remote: Employees who don’t live near a Salesforce office or have roles that don’t need an office.
- Office-based: The smallest number of employees who need to be in-person 4-5 days a week.
ONVU Technologies
ONVU Technologies is a global I.T. company that offers tailor-made solutions to its clients worldwide. The firm announced in February 2021 the plan to make its entire workforce fully remote.
Human Resources Vice President Ragini Sidhu says that giving freedom and flexibility to the team helps improve the overall productivity. Trusting your workforce is important to bring the human element into the organisation and allow for a work/life balance.
Zillow
Zillow is an American online real estate marketplace based in Seattle. In mid-2020, the company announced that 90% of its employees could work from anywhere they are most productive.
In February 2021, Zillow’s CEO Rich Barton announced that the company would adopt the hybrid model of the workforce. Employees can work from their home, in the office, or choose a combination of both.
Zillow's Chief People Officer, Dan Spaulding, says our staff is now inspiringly more creative, and they support each other. In addition, the company onboarded nearly 500 new employees entirely remotely.
Find Remote Work Jobs
Considering the success of remote work over the last year, chances are many more companies will switch to the new normal. This will result in a significant increase in work-from-home jobs. Head over to Remote Worker to search for jobs in your area of expertise.
