Canva has committed to a flexible work model for its employees long-term, following fellow Atlassian in embracing remote work. The company has called the change part of its “long term approach to the future of work,” where it will focus on flexibility and connection and abolish any formal rules around office attendance.
On Tuesday, the company said it won’t have strict requirements for the number of days spent in an office but will empower teams to decide on the number of days employees are expected to attend work in person.
Canva said the decision followed internal research with a survey showing that 79% of its teams say they feel productive working from home, with 81% saying they wanted to continue balancing working in the office with remote work when stay-at-home orders are relaxed. The company’s new policy won’t set strict requirements for balancing physical and remote work. However, it said it expects to see employees appear at their “nearest Canva hub” at least eight times per year.
Canva also shared its global approach to team building would be reimagined to fit the new approach to physical work, with the introduction of an all of company ‘Meeting Free Wednesday’. The company also added:
“We believe traditional workplaces will become the exception when it comes to the future of work. The pandemic has disproved the notion of collaboration being best in one way or in one place.”
In late April Australian tech giant Atlassian announced a remote work policy that would enable its global staff of 5,700 to work from anywhere in the world.
As part of its approach to flexible work, employees are expected to visit the company’s offices four times a year to attend global summits or to design their own approach to office attendance. The company found that around 50% of employees intend to continue going into the office on a regular basis. Atlassian also said its policy not only reflected the company’s global approach but signalled a shift in the flexibility employees expected in conducting their work. Scott Farquhar, co-founder and co-chief executive of Atlassian said:
“If you think about Atlassian historically we’ve basically been a global company, we’ve had a belief that talent exists everywhere in the world, not just in Silicon Valley.”
In April Canva rocketed to a new milestone with a valuation of $US15 billion ($19.7 billion) following a new round of funding. The company shared that the pandemic had boosted its user base by 50% due to an increased demand for tools that enable remote collaboration.
