Dropbox will make working from home permanent for its 2,800 employees even after the pandemic and will create ‘studios’ in key cities for staffers who need to collaborate
- San Francisco-based company Dropbox announced Tuesday it will make remote work permanent even after the pandemic ends
- The file hosting company unveiled its new ‘Virtual First’ approach where working from home will be the day-to-day default for staffers
- When it’s safe, employees who need to meet can reunite at ‘Dropbox Studios’ that will be set up in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Dublin
- Dropbox had more than 2,800 employees as of December 31
- Dropbox is the latest tech company to announce permanent remote work following the likes of Twitter and Square
Dropbox announced Tuesday it will make remote work permanent even after the pandemic ends.
The San Francisco-based file hosting company announced it will revolutionize its work structure and from now on employees will work primarily virtually and studios will be created in key cities for when employees need to collaborate with each other.
‘Though we make software that helps people work from anywhere, most of our employees came to an office every day. We believe the data shows the shift to remote work, though abrupt, has been successful overall,’ the company said announcing the new ‘Virtual First’ company shift in a post on its website.
The company also said it will extend its mandatory work from home policy through June 2021 in an effort to protect employees amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Dropbox announced Tuesday it will make remote work permanent even after the pandemic ends
The company announced it will totally change its work structure and will focus on having employees work virtually first and foremost and will create studios in key cities for when employees need to collaborate with each other
Dropbox had more than 2,800 employees as of December 31, according to its latest 8K.
When it’s safe to reunite staffers, employees who need to meet or work together in person can at the company’s ‘Dropbox Studios’ that will be set up in San Francisco, Seattle, Austin and Dublin.
These studios will not be allowed to be used for individual work but for team building, training and community events.
How often employees will be called into the office will depend on ther team and how often they host strategy and team building meetings.
Dropbox will also employees to relocate outside of locations where they don’t currently have offices under this new work from home-focused model.
The company will also kick off ‘non-linear’ workdays focused on hours that overlap between time zones.
‘We’re living through a challenging time. But we believe it brings an opportunity to redesign the way we work for the better. While we think Virtual First is the right choice, it’s new for us and we know we may not get it 100% right immediately,’ the company said.
The San Francisco-based file hosting company announced it will revolutionize its work structure and from now on employees will work primarily virtually and studios will be created in key cities for when employees need to collaborate with each other
Dropbox Office Headquarters in San Francisco pictured above
‘So we’re committed to maintaining a learning mindset—to staying open to new information and feedback and iterating over time until we do,’ the statement added.
Dropbox is the latest tech company to announce a major shift in its working policy due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twitter and Square previously announced they will let employees work from home permanently.
Microsoft said it would give employees more flexibility to work from home.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said in May that 50 percent of employees will work remotely within the next decade.