Spotify has been named Newsweek’s most loved workplace in America for 2021.
But how does a company achieve such a goal? For the music streaming giant, incorporating its Swedish roots has been critical.
While the company is internationally embraced, its roots are in Stockholm, where a down-to-earth employee policy is the norm and the culture embodies collaboration and openness.
Spotify’s Swedish roots have also allowed it to provide other perks for employees not seen in many other large companies, such as six months paid maternal and paternal leave.
Even more, the company recently adopted a work from anywhere policy, allowing workers to choose where they live and work. Employees will also have the chance to take the first week of November off to recharge.
“With a lot of perks at other tech companies there’s this sense that they’re treating you nicely so you’ll work hard, to keep you in the office,” said Adam Winer, senior director for content strategy for Spotify. “Here it’s because they genuinely care about you as a human being: ‘We’re Swedish! We believe these things! Our culture is we all go to the beach for a month in the summer and shut everything down because Sweden is dark and terrible for nine months out of the year so we must all enjoy it and that’s well-being and that’s important to us.’”
