Streaming company Spotify is the latest tech giant to move to a flexible work model following the coronavirus crisis – CNBC reported.
On Friday, the tech giant announced that it is adopting a ‘Work from Anywhere’ model, under which staff can choose whether they want to be in an office full-time, work from home full-time or a combination of both.
The new initiative has been described as “a new way of collaborating that allows Spotifiers to work from wherever they do their best thinking and creating”, according to the firm’s blog.
‘Pick where you work’
The organisation will also introduce greater flexibility regarding locations so that staff members can pick the country in which they work.
In addition to this, Spotify explained that it will provide co-working space memberships for those who predominantly choose to work remotely, but still want a dedicated workspace to utilise.
Spotify’s blog post read: “As we continue evolving, we want to make sure our office spaces do too.
“As part of our ongoing Dynamic Workplace effort, we’re re-evaluating our office spaces across the globe for increased sustainability, flexibility, and wellbeing to ensure that all of our employees, regardless of ability or situation, can work comfortably and efficiently.
“The ultimate goal of our new design approach is to ensure that employees have a place where they can focus, collaborate, and create – whether that’s at a desk, in a conference room, or in cafe spaces,” the post added.
Firms allow staff to work from home permanently
As the coronavirus crisis continues, an increasing number of organisations have considered remote working as a more permanent option going forwards.
Last week, HR Grapevine reported on software giant Salesforce who announced a move away from in-person work and declared that the ‘9-to-5 workday is dead’.
Elsewhere, in May 2020, Twitter told staff members that they could work from home ‘forever’ if they wanted to after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The HR thinking behind Spotify’s latest policy
Spotify’s latest announcement also pointed towards the HR thinking behind the ‘Work from Anywhere’ initiative.
In fact, the tech giant's HR blog acknowledged that having a flexible approach to work has great advantages for staff and also described it as a “jewel in our Talent Attraction crown”.
This thinking – that flexible approaches to work can attract top talent into the business – dovetails with previous research from Totaljobs which found that flexible working conditions are important to candidates when weighing up job opportunities.
Separate data from Gartner – as was reported by WIRED – found that 48% of staff now expect to work from home post-pandemic, so Spotify's latest move will likely help with retaining top talent.
In addition to this, giving staff members greater flexibility will support a better work-life balance – something that many employees have struggled with maintaining during the coronavirus crisis.
So, not only can giving staff greater flexibility over work engage and retain top talent and promote a positive company culture, but it can also help employers attract new talent into the business.
Emma