Proven Benefits of Remote Work for Large Companies: Spotify, Dropbox and Meta

Big companies are catching onto the benefits of remote work and are implementing it as a part of their strategies. Three clear examples come from none other than Spotify, Dropbox, and Meta.

Those who once built campuses and office buildings with a wide variety of amenities have realized that the one perk making their employees happy is the flexibility that remote work brings.

But the perks aren’t just for the employees — there’s also a clear benefit to the businesses. Reducing turnover rate, improving diversity and employee satisfaction are all benefits that industry-leading companies have reported after implementing a distributed strategy.

That isn’t to say that remote work is a silver bullet. There are still many challenges and questions that need answering, but it’s clear that remote work is here to stay. 

More than half of American employees report they have the opportunity to work from home at least once a week, according to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company. That same report found that a flexible working arrangement is one of the top 3 factors motivating people to find a new job. 

As large companies take notice of the gains made by implementing a distributed strategy, the trend will only continue to grow. For now, let's break down the three main benefits of remote work that Spotify, Dropbox, and Meta have seen.

Remote Work Reduces Employee Turnover

In 2021 Spotify announced their Work From Anywhere program, a policy that allows employees to choose how often they work from home and their preferred location, as long as the company has an office there.

A year and a half later, the Swedish company reports that they experienced a 15% reduction in staff turnover by offering such a policy and an increased level of diverse representation.

Employees Prefer the Flexibility of Remote Work

Dropbox also implemented a remote work policy in 2021 named Virtual First. Under this program, employees are expected to work from home 90% of the time and only go to the office for occasional meetings. The company also redesigned its office space to adapt to the new model emphasizing brainstorming sessions, educational meetings, and culture-building activities.

The company found that employees thrive with remote work. An employee survey in the second quarter of 2022 found that more than three in four employees feel like they have more work-life balance under the virtual first model, and 78% report they are more productive working this way.

Additionally, the job offer acceptance rate at Dropbox is 126% higher than before Virtual First, with 90% of job applicants citing that such a policy made Dropbox an attractive option.

A Distributed Workforce Is a Diverse Workforce

This year, Meta reported that one of the main benefits of remote work was achieving diversity goals across the organization earlier than expected.

Maxine Williams, chief diversity officer at Meta, said that the company set to increase representation in their workforce in five years, but remote work allowed them to make significant progress in just two years.

The main takeaways from the report are the following:

• Candidates accepting remote job offers in the U.S. were more likely to be Black, Hispanic, Native America, Alaskan Native, Pacific Islander, veterans, or people with disabilities.
• Since 2019, the company doubled the number of women in its global workforce, as well as the number of Black and Hispanic employees in the U.S., a metric set to be achieved by 2024.
• Underrepresented people make up 46.7% of Meta’s employees in 2022, nearly 1% more than a year ago, and close to the 50% it set out to achieve by 2024.
• Meta projects that 30% of leadership roles, such as managing director-level employees and above, will be filled by people of color by 2025. Currently, women take up 36.7% of global leadership.

Will more big-name companies across industries follow these companies' lead and adopt remote work as the norm? That’s very likely, but not all companies will do it. Realistically, some industries need people on-site due to their nature, like construction or health, but many others can easily pivot.

The tech industry is likely to see more heavyweights turning to remote work as a way to attract talent since the barriers to adopting a distributed workforce are relatively small. A developer can code from anywhere, but a restaurant chef can’t cook from The Maldives if their employer is in Los Angeles. Although there could be some creative ways to achieve that.

The decision to go fully or partially remote will ultimately depend on the company’s needs. However, it’s hard to ignore the positive response that employees have shown towards the more flexible work arrangements.

Final Thoughts

After the global shift to remote work brought by the pandemic at the start of 2020, companies can no longer ignore that such arrangements are feasible and beneficial. Work-life balance is becoming increasingly important for the younger generations and will likely play a factor in their decision to choose their workplace.

Companies that can offer their employees the option of working remotely will have a competitive advantage and will be able to attract and retain top talent. It's already proven that remote work works and can bring a positive impact on employees and employers alike.

With this in mind, companies need to make their work environment adaptable to accommodate all of their employees. The future of work is remote, flexible, and global. One way we can start living it now is by providing efficient IT asset management.

At GroWrk, we make remote work possible for teams worldwide by providing smart IT equipment management in over 150 countries. You can easily set up, support, and scale your distributed workforce through our platform. Request a demo today and let your company reap the benefits of remote work.