The return-to-office battles that began several years ago are still raging, and an issue that once seemed destined to fade quickly has become the workplace question of the decade.
Private and public sector leaders alike have made a show of implementing hardline RTO policies recently. President Trump signed an executive order in January demanding federal workers return to the office five days a week or lose their positions. And JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made headlines last month with a profanity-laced speech after employee pushback against the company’s five-day in-person mandate.
But not all leaders are taking the same approach. Fritz Lanman, CEO of wellness booking platforms Mindbody and ClassPass, previously told Fortune he believes that requiring employees to come back to the office is equivalent to “forcing people to fax instead of email.” And the option to work from home remains wildly popular among employees across the country, and has contributed to a recruitment and retention edge for companies that allow for flexible work schedules.
Five years after the pandemic forced employees to work from home, these are the companies standing by their remote and hybrid work models.
Zillow
The Seattle-based real estate listing company has embraced the flexibility of a remote work structure for the majority of its 6,900 employees, utilizing a Cloud HQ environment to allow workers to operate where they’re most productive. Approximately 84% of Zillow employees are fully remote, meaning they’re not associated with a permanent corporate office, and aren’t required to be in office regularly. Field-based workers, who are primarily in sales roles and support a designated region with multi-state flexibility, make up 11% of the company workforce. Around 5% of Zillow employees are required to work in the office 80% to 100% of the time. These workers are primarily based in mortgage roles where compliance laws require certain activities to occur in a licensed location.
Zillow company leadership says it has seen clear benefits in recruitment and retention since it shifted to a Cloud HQ model. “We’ve found that working in a Cloud HQ environment drives innovation and boosts productivity. What started as a pandemic necessity almost five years ago quickly became a strategic productivity advantage—one we knew we couldn’t walk away from,” Dan Spaulding, chief people officer at Zillow, tells Fortune.
“By leaning into async collaboration and strong knowledge-sharing, our teams are better focused, move faster, and work smarter. Plus, having employees across the country gives us more local real estate insights and a deeper connection to the needs of homebuyers, sellers, and renters everywhere—which helps us build even more innovative products for them.”
Spotify
The music platform introduced a “work from anywhere” policy in 2021, which leadership has no plans to change anytime soon. Spotify employees can work from wherever they like, as long as the company has a legal entity in the region. However, workers do have to choose whether they want to commit to working a “home mix,” meaning they work mainly at home, or “office mix,” meaning they work mainly at the office.
For employees who choose to work from home, the company will assist in procuring furniture and/or IT equipment needed for an effective office setup. Every 12 months, employees have the opportunity to switch their location or work mode, as long as it suits their role and/or team.
A Spotify spokesperson tells Fortune that attrition has dropped by 50% since the introduction of work from anywhere.
Atlassian
The software company participates in a distributed work model under the name Team Anywhere. Employees are allowed to be based from places where the company has a legal entity, as long as they are legally allowed to work there, have the support of their team leadership, and the time zone allows it. Atlassian operates in 14 countries and has 12 office locations spread across the globe.
Shopify
The Ottawa-based e-commerce platform uses a strategy called Digital by Design, which allows employees to work from wherever they are. The company reopened some of its offices in 2023 to give local employees the opportunity to work in person, but there are no official attendance requirements.
Microsoft
The software conglomerate utilizes a flexible work approach, in which job openings are listed as one of three categories: up to 50% work from home, up to 100% work from home, or Microsoft on-site only. The company’s website states that “a job posting that lists 100% work from home can be applied for by anyone located within the listed country.”
Pinterest’s approach to work is known as PinFlex, which the company describes as a “flexible work model where the type of work guides the collaboration style.”
For roles the company believes can be performed anywhere, employees can choose where they live within their country or region of employment. For roles that require more office interaction, employees will need to meet the in-person expectations outlined by their team leader.
In most cases, the company will cover travel costs for employees who live outside of a commutable distance to their office when they’re expected to come in for in-person work, which varies based on teams and roles.
All full-time employees who have been at the company for at least six months are eligible to work outside of the country of their employment for up to 90 days over a 12-month period.
Nvidia
The software company headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., has a flexible work policy that allows employees to work remotely, in the office, or in a hybrid arrangement.
In 2020, CEO Jensen Huang said that he took no issue with the idea of employees working from home indefinitely. The company has stayed committed to that idea over the years, and has no plans to mandate a return to office. Even so, the $1 trillion company still operates offices in over 50 locations across the world.
Doordash
Doordash rolled out a Flexible Workplace Model in 2022, which leaves it up to individual teams to determine whether roles are on-site, hybrid, or remote. The company’s website notes that some teams will require an in-person presence.
Visa
Approximately 90% of Visa’s roles are designated as hybrid, and employees in this group are expected to work in-office a minimum of three days a week. Hybrid employees can also choose to work from a location outside their designated region for up to four weeks per year.
Workday
The recruitment and human resources platform employs a Flex Work model, in which there are no number of required days in-office each week. Instead, employees are required to spend at least 50% of their time each quarter either in the office or “in the field with our customers, prospects, and partners,” depending on the role. The majority of positions are listed as either Flex or fully remote.
