10 Companies That Will Never Return to Office

The pandemic changed working culture forever. While some companies took a temporary break from going into the office, others decided they would never return again. According to Forbes, about 16% of companies globally are fully remote. Forbes also reports that this move is largely in line with what current employees want: 98% of workers want to work remotely at least some of the time.

Looking for remote work? Here’s a look at some of the companies that will never return to the office, and why. 

You’ve probably used Slack as a means to communicate with employees that are remote, so it makes sense that their company values align with its product. The productivity platform supports a “remote-first” company, which means it’s assumed that employees will work remotely, but they have the option to go into offices that Slack has set up worldwide.

“They’re living proof that you can foster a robust and connected team culture, even if everyone’s spread out across different time zones,” said Kraig Kleeman, the CEO of The New Workforce. “They say, ‘We’ve got the tools; let’s show the world how it’s done.'”

Dropbox adopted a way of working called “virtual first,” which is similar to Slack’s philosophy of remote first. The primary experience for employees is 90% remote, with opportunities to meet up in person when needed.

“They’re transforming their offices into ‘Dropbox Studios’ — spaces designed for teamwork, not the 9-to-5 grind,” Kleeman said. “It’s a whole new take on what a workspace can be.”

Time reported in 2022 that Dropbox employees even receive a $7,000 stipend to use for expenses associated with working from home, like additional electronics and childcare.

Coinbase, a platform for buying, selling and storing cryptocurrency, is also remote-first and proudly proclaims it’s never going to the pre-2020 way of working again, after many employees raved about the shift in culture.

“They’re all about breaking down barriers and building a decentralized team that can work from anywhere,” Kleeman said. “It’s a visionary approach, especially for a company that’s all about the cutting-edge world of cryptocurrency.”

Shopify is an e-commerce platform that any business can work into their selling model. Shopify’s jobs are 100% remote, so employees can work easily from anywhere.

“Shopify’s CEO, Tobi Lutke, threw the gauntlet down, too, calling the company ‘digital by default,'” Kleeman said. “Shopify is on a mission to tap into talent from every corner of the globe, ensuring that work fits into life, not vice versa.”

You’ve probably seen Square when you go to pay for something at a coffee shop or an art fair. Square makes devices that allow small businesses to accept credit card payments anywhere. This type of location flexibility is also a part of its business model. All the jobs at Square are 100% remote.

“They’ve seen the light — realizing that people shouldn’t have to commute to an office to do great work,” Kleeman said.

Square said part of their reasoning for switching to 100% remote work was to meet employees’ needs and let them work from where they felt most creative and productive.

Zillow CEO Rich Barton said that, once the company went remote, they saw a higher number of applicants and more access to great talent to bring into the company. Barton also said that employees were more productive since going remote.

“Zillow jumped on the bandwagon by offering employees the choice to work from home permanently,” Kleeman said. “They listened to their team, who said loud and clear, ‘We love this flexibility!'”

Okta is a tool that helps with authentication in the workplace. You might have seen it when you’re trying to log into your accounts, if you work at a big company. The team went fully remote after the COVID-19 pandemic, citing its mission to support “boundary-less work environments.”

The switch also helps support their internationally-born employees whose visas might have expired. This way, they can keep their jobs while not having to live in the United States.

Atlassian makes collaboration software for companies to easily share their work. Like other companies on this list, it made sense that the company would go fully remote, given the product it builds.

Atlassian calls its remote policy “Team Anywhere,” which allows employees to choose their preferred working style, from remote to an office, in one of the company’s 13 countries. The team says this approach has allowed them to attract more top tier talent and made their employees happier with their work/life balance.

Developers use GitHub to create, store and manage code. GitHub is a fully remote company. Part of the reason for going fully remote is that, since the COVID-19 pandemic, its offices were sorely under-utilized.

In 2023, GitHub made the decision to go fully remote and not to renew the leases on any of its offices, saving some cash in the process.

You’ve probably had a burning question answered on Quora. The company is best known for being a place where people can crowdsource answers for questions they may have.

Quora has adopted a remote-first working mentality but does offer a co-working stipend for employees who prefer to be in an office to work.