Salesforce Will Keep One Big Perk After Pandemic

Software company will let most employees keep working from home after this is all over
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2021 6:24 AM CST
Salesforce to Staff: 'Work From Anywhere' Post-Pandemic
In this May 16, 2019, file photo, Salesforce Chairman Marc Benioff speaks during a news conference in Indianapolis.   (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Telecommuting, work from home, working virtually, working remotely—whatever you call it, employees at San Francisco's largest private company are about to have the option to do it permanently, even after we've finally chased the pandemic away. Salesforce announced Tuesday that most of its workers will be permitted to take part in its "work from anywhere" model post-pandemic, meaning they can sign in from home (or, well, from anywhere) or take advantage of flextime, SFGate reports. The company opted to implement this benefit after an internal survey showed about 65% of its workers would opt in. "We must continue to go forward with agility, creativity, and a beginner's mind," a Salesforce blog post written by President and Chief People Officer Brent Hyder notes, per the Verge. "An immersive workspace is no longer limited to a desk in our Towers."

As for the flex-schedule option, Hyder cites the need to attend to family obligations such as caring for sick family or picking up kids from school, and declares: "The 9-to-5 workday is dead. ... It no longer makes sense to expect employees to work an eight-hour shift and do their jobs successfully." For any of the 9,000 or so employees in the Bay Area who crave in-person colleague camaraderie, or whose roles require them to come in, they'll arrive to an "office of the future," Salesforce's redesign of its current workspace that will focus on small-group and other collaboration-encouraging areas to "foster the human connection that can't be replicated remotely," Hyder notes. The overall strategy will offer Salesforce one other big advantage: It'll allow the company to seek employees outside of the Bay Area. "Our talent strategy is no longer bound by barriers like location," Hyder writes. (More Salesforce.com stories.)

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