Location Flexibility Continues: These Companies Are Still Remote
For many companies, the pandemic-fueled switch to remote work is permanent
After lockdowns triggered the closure of offices across the globe, many companies found themselves face to face with a new reality and an important question: is in-person work really necessary? While the occasional work from home day or the freshly-relocated remote worker might have cropped up here and there before 2020, the massive shift toward remote work didn’t gain ground until offices were forced to shut their doors. Now, as some companies navigate a tricky return to office plan, others have made decisions to remain remote or hybrid permanently.
Remote Companies
Companies across industries are moving to a remote work model. In manufacturing, 3M has announced that workers can choose whether they’d like to work remote, in the office, or hybrid. The tech space offers even more remote work opportunities, with companies like InVision, HubSpot, Go Daddy, and SAP adopting flexible work models. More companies include:
Reddit
Twitter
Airbnb
Coinbase
Countless others have joined the ranks, and at the same time, many people in the workforce have set out to create their own self-employment opportunities in order to keep working from home. While some aspects of daily life have returned to a version of normal since 2020, this change shows no sign of reversing.
Hybrid Companies
While many large and successful companies have fully embraced remote work, others are looking to strike a balance between flexibility and collaboration. In some workplaces, the option to work completely remotely is dependent on position or on a discussion with management. In others, blanket policies requiring a mix of at-home and in-person work are being applied. For example, companies like Citigroup and BP are expecting workers to come into the office three days a week. Other hybrid companies include:
Spotify
Adobe
Uber
In addition to cutting back to less than five days of expected office time, many companies are also de-centralizing their offices and setting up hubs and smaller offices in multiple cities. This allows for added location flexibility as workers can choose where they live based on requirements and preferences outside of where their company headquarters are located.
Implications
Without the need to live in one specific city for work, or with the knowledge that they’ll only need to commute a few days per week, many employees are rethinking their priorities in terms of location. This has triggered a few additional trends.
First, there’s been a mass exodus from cities like New York. People are leaving expensive coastal cities for good. With no need to stay close to a Bay Area office, it’s tough to justify paying the Bay Area cost of living. Instead, many workers are shifting to locations like Raleigh and Charlotte, where there’s a lower cost of living alongside plenty of cultural opportunities and outdoor recreation.
Second, home offices are a new must-have. Even if they’re only in use two days each week, home offices are crucial for helping employees maintain a sense of work-life balance and for providing a quiet and focused work environment. In some households with two remote workers, it may even be necessary to incorporate more than one home office.
A third implication of the shift to remote and hybrid work is that the suburbs are becoming more popular. Without the need to commute each day, many professionals are prioritizing more space, more affordable real estate, and more privacy over a downtown location.
In addition, as people continue to spend more time at home than before, many are prioritizing creating a home they truly love. While a huge portion of our waking hours used to be spent in the office, now many of us find ourselves at home a stunning majority of the time. This shift has pushed homeowners and house hunters to reconsider their priorities and preferences.
For many, that has meant forgoing the compromising and the bidding wars involved in trying to purchase existing construction. Instead, they’re opting to build their very own custom home on their dream lot. This allows for special requirements like having two home offices to be met, while also leaving space for personalization and prioritization.
With a custom home, you choose where your budget goes instead of paying top dollar for someone else’s version of a great home. Better yet, with Atmos, the process of building custom has never been easier. Get started today!
