Twitter to Allow Some of Its Employees Work from Home ‘Forever’

Twitter (TWTR) announced on Wednesday that it would allow its employees to work from home “forever.” This new development came after the company used the coronavirus lockdown period to restructure and strategize its operations. The company has come to the conclusion that it would eventually allow its workers from home as its work-from-home measures have been a success so far.

“The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen.”

The social media giant said it would also grant its workers to choose to return to the office or not when it reopens. According to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, the option of work-from-home-forever is not compulsory as it is not suitable for all its workers. For those that would like to return to the office, Twitter has said that the company would be welcoming to all, with precautionary measures in place.

“When we do decide to open offices, it also won’t be a snap back to the way it was before. It will be careful, intentional, office by office, and gradual,” Dorsey said.

Prior to Twitter’s announcement, Facebook and Google had announced that their staff can work from home until the end of the year. Over the past few weeks, major organizations like Capital One, JP Morgan, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Zillow have announced an extension in their work-from-home policies.

Twitter’s decision may seem outrageous to many people, however, it could also be considered as a challenge for other companies that can afford to allow their staff to work from home permanently. It would only be a matter of time before other companies join the train. Until then, companies around the world are working towards reopening their offices while strategically planning how to implement strict precautionary measures.

Sree Sreenivasan, a visiting professor at the Stony Brook University School of Journalism is of the opinion that while many may not take Twitter’s announcement seriously, there are things to learn from “Silicon Valley about workplace flexibility.”

“There has been a mentality that working from home was stealing from the boss and facetime in the office was more important. But people are proving they can be far more productive and get tasks done working from home. A lot of people tell me they are working harder at home and are exhausted,” Sreenivasan said.

There is a good chance that many companies would adopt Twitter’s decision to allow its staff to permanently work from home if they want to. The adoption by other companies would be for various reasons such as having more productive employees, cut down on workplace expenses, enable the employees to have a better balance of work and life.