Whether you’ve turned your kitchen table into a de facto desk and now enjoy proximity to the fridge or participate in (camera off) video calls from bed, the mass adoption of remote working has allowed us to create our own personal workspaces. creating, in a cocoon of the realities of traditional office etiquette.
Plus, when you’ve spent the better part of three years working from home, in your comfiest clothes and only dealing with a commute of about 30 seconds, tearing yourself away from the kitchen table (and sweatpants) and returning to the office can seem like an unnecessary chore .
Work life balance
But it works. According to a recent survey by Gallup, 71% of hybrid employees experiencing a better work-life balance, 58% report being able to keep burnout at bay, and 51% share that they are more productive.
When employers meet their staff halfway through and offer a hybrid work model that offers the best of both worlds, with two to three days in the office and the rest of the workweek at home, those days in the office provide the perfect opportunity to catch up with colleagues who may not on your team, collaborate in a more creative or natural way, and take advantage of free meals and snacks if your organization hasn’t cut back on edible benefits.
However, for Google employees at five of its locations across the US: Kirkland, Washington; the city of New York; San Francisco; Seattle; and Sunnyvale, California – employees haven’t taken kindly to the new downsizing, Cloud Office Evolution (CLOE).
Debate about desk sharing
Essentially a desk sharing policy for cloud employees where staff will rotate where they sit based on agency partners. Google has defended the move, explaining that since real estate is so expensive, it can’t justify sprawling office spaces that go unused.
“By the way, there are people who routinely complain that they come in and there are large swathes of empty desks and that it feels like a ghost town — it’s just not a fun experience,” CEO Sundar Pichai said at a company-wide meeting.
For those opposed to a hot desk system, not being able to personalize your own office space is often cited as the main reason, and the consequences of not having photos of your family or pets or keeping your favorite mug. everyone else on your floor goes beyond materialistic motives.
In fact, a recent study by the Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership found that when people can act more authentically at work, they feel happier, more confident and, most importantly, more engaged. active disabled.
While there’s no way of knowing which direction the desk-sharing pendulum will swing at any company, if your current employer’s hybrid or in-office workplace policies aren’t working for you, it may be time to move to a company with a remote-first model.
And if so, the VentureBeat Job Board is the perfect place to start your search, as there are thousands of positions in companies that support remote working and flexible hybrid working, like the three below.
Adobe
After the pandemic, after careful consideration, Adobe adopted a hybrid working model: it used focus groups and employee interviews and surveys to inform its decision. In a company blog post, Adobe EVP and chief people officer, Gloria Chen stated that the company leaders saw “an opportunity and a need to reinvent the employee experience and develop a future work approach that leverages the best of in-person and virtual interactions to foster creativity, innovation, and culture.” View all job openings at Adobe here.
Shopify
E-commerce giant Shopify is remote by default and is so committed to fostering a flexible environment with its employees that it has implemented a “no-meeting Wednesday” policy. In January, the company also decided to cancel all recurring meetings with more than two people and is limiting meetings of more than 50 people to a six-hour window on Thursdays. Read more about the current options at Shopify here.
Zoom
It’s no surprise that Zoom has a robust remote work policy — the video conferencing platform rose to prominence during the pandemic when non-essential workers around the world were forced to work from home — and today it enables staff to a hybrid model of their choice. View all vacancies at Zoom here.
Start your remote job search today through the VentureBeat Job Board.
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