Meta is one of many companies that is fully embracing remote work. The tech giant’s executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are splitting their time between working remotely and the firm’s Silicon Valley headquarters.
Meta says by providing employees more choice in their work arrangements, they can become “the most forward-leaning company for remote work.”
In comparison, real estate platform Zillow has also embraced permanent remote work policies, announcing that 90% of its employees could continue working from home indefinitely in July of 2020.
Although Zillow is much smaller than Meta, lessons can be applied as the tech giant makes the transition to a distributed workforce. According to Zillow’s Chief People Officer Dan Spaulding, the company’s main reason for shifting to this new mode of operating was to bring in and retain their top talent.
During the first half of 2021, Zillow reported over a 58% increase in applicants compared to the first half of 2019, which is important to note in the midst of the ongoing labor shortage.
Over the last 15 months, Meta has seen several of its top executives leave the company, including its head of communications, global advertising chief, head of the Facebook app, and more. Additionally, the firm’s stock has taken a historical tumble which has hindered its overall valuation.
As a result, some have questioned whether a fully distributed team is the wisest move for Meta to make when it seems to be in an all-hands-on-deck situation.
“Now, no one can claim they know what they’re doing,” said Ben Waber, president and cofounder of workplace-analytics company Humanyzee. “For Meta, if they’re being honest, it’s a hypothesis.”
