🚀 Newer companies have more location flexibility

Good Morning,

Since executives seem to keep one-upping each other with stupid comments about remote work, we decided to document them in a way that’s easy for the world to see.

So there’s now a Twitter thread (rather, X post?) devoted to them:

Since it’s a running list of clowns, keep an eye out for future additions to the thread 😈

🛥 Remote work is causing an “explosion of interest” in yachts for the ultra-wealthy.

Making work-from-boat a reality, “many new superyachts are outfitted with full home offices, representing an evolution in yacht architecture.“

Even more reason for leaders at the very top of organizations to approve flexible work options for their employees. In the name of equity, of course. (Fortune)

➡️ Buzzfeed is back with 36 more WFH essentials. A $19 rotating timer, a $48 memory foam seat cushion, and a $100 “portable home office” with a dry-erase board are among the items you probably didn’t know about that can upgrade your home office. (Buzzfeed)

PS seem familiar? Yes, we do have our own Remote Essentials page 😉

📈 Smaller and newer companies are more likely to accommodate remote work. This means the faster growing companies - the future ‘Corporate Titans’ - will open more remote jobs, and remote work will be more and more prevalent.

• 76% of employers with less than 500 workers are remote-first

• 93% of companies founded after 2010 offer location flexibility

• 85% of non-tech companies founded after 2010 offer location flexibility

While you and I may not need as much convincing that remote work is only going to increase, it’s always nice to see data and concrete examples that make that prediction even more obvious. (Forbes)

🕰 There’s a sharp uptick in “dead zone” hours in remote workdays. For example, many remote employees aren’t working between 4:00pm and 6:00pm due to family obligations, but they will log on for a brief amount of time later in the evening for more focused work.

And this applies to all remote workers across all hours of the day, whether taking flights, attending yoga classes, or even taking naps. These employees do their best work when they are able to dictate their own schedule instead of attempting to brute-force 8+ straight hours of less-effective work. (Fortune)

🔓 A leaked memo says Meta plans to enforce strict RTO mandates. The company will require most employees to work from an office three days per week. Insider points out that in 2022 Zuckerberg said he wanted 50% of his company to be “distributed and working remotely.” (Insider)

🚀 A Nobel Prize winner likens the remote work revolution to the 1969 moon landing.

Shiller is a cofounder of the Case-Shiller Index, which tracks home prices across the US. The article shares that more real estate investors are shifting their focus to the steadily-growing Midwestern markets. (MarketWatch)

🙅‍♀️ Two undesirable leadership styles have emerged with remote work. Some bosses isolate more than they need to, leaving their employees feeling alienated with lack of direction. Others are the polar opposite: micromanagers who stymie employees’ autonomy and productivity, often requesting workers to be in the office. Unfortunately, without explicit action to fix these habits, it may take a long time for managers to learn constructive communication habits in a remote environment. (BBC)

🤲 78% of workers would sacrifice something in order to gain fully remote work. Bankrate surveyed the American workforce and found lots of support for flexible work. See results for what employees would sacrifice to gain fully remote work below. (Bankrate)

💵 Goldman Sachs has made the naughty list again. Almost two years ago, they called workers back to the office. Seven months ago, it was reported that despite those announcements, many weren’t coming back in.

Regarding this new internal announcement, their Chief Human Resources Officer said Goldman is “simply reminding our employees of our existing policy.” (Bloomberg)

Have any friends at GS? Send them to our job board 🤝

You may have noticed we included a few companies in the job board update this week. Let us know if you’d like us to include your company on the job board or in these emails!

Enjoy Labor Day this weekend, and we’ll be back in your inbox next Tuesday.

Cheers,
Grant