With the rise of remote work over the past few years, especially accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have adopted flexible or fully remote policies. One major tech company that has embraced this shift is LinkedIn, the professional networking platform owned by Microsoft.
LinkedIn’s Pre-Pandemic Remote Work Policy
Prior to the pandemic, LinkedIn allowed some employees to work remotely or have flexible work arrangements. However, this was not a company-wide policy and varied by team and role. LinkedIn’s headquarters are located in Sunnyvale, California, and they also have offices around the world.
In a 2018 blog post titled “How We Make Remote Work at LinkedIn,” the company outlined some of their remote work best practices at the time. LinkedIn said about 50% of their employees had some type of flexible work arrangement, whether that was working remote full-time or having a hybrid schedule.
They highlighted their “Flex Team” program which allowed employees to work remotely for set periods of time, such as 1-2 days per week or 1-2 weeks per month. The idea was to give employees flexibility while still maintaining in-office collaboration.
In the post, LinkedIn provided tips for making remote work successful, such as overcommunicating and documenting decisions, being transparent about availability, and leveraging technology like video conferencing. However, remote work was not considered the norm at LinkedIn prior to COVID-19.
How the Pandemic Changed LinkedIn’s Approach
Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, LinkedIn quickly shifted to having the majority of their workforce work from home. In March 2020, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky sent an email to employees saying:
“Beginning tomorrow, March 10, we are asking all employees globally to work from home through at least the end of March. We are also postponing all non-essential business travel and events through April 30.”
This work from home arrangement eventually was extended through the end of 2020. In May 2020, Roslansky announced:
“As we progress through this global pandemic together, our top priority remains the health and safety of our employees. Given the success we’ve seen with remote working and balancing that with the caution continuing to come from leading health experts, we’ve made the decision to extend our global work from home guidance through the end of 2020.”
So essentially since March 2020, the vast majority of LinkedIn employees have been working remotely. Certain essential roles such as data center employees were still required to work on-site but they represented a small fraction of LinkedIn’s workforce.
LinkedIn’s Current Remote Work Policy
In October 2020, LinkedIn announced they were adopting a flexible, remote-first work model going forward. However, this stop short of allowing all employees to work remotely permanently.
LinkedIn is calling their initiative “Virtual First” and it includes these key components:
- Allowing most employees to work remotely or flexibly most of the time
- Redesigning offices as collaboration hubs instead of everyday workspaces
- Emphasizing asynchronous collaboration through tools like recorded video
- Organizing in-person team gatherings a few times per year for connection and culture-building
In a blog post explaining Virtual First, LinkedIn said they anticipate transitioning to this model over the next year as pandemic restrictions are lifted. So what does this look like in practice?
LinkedIn employees will not be required to work in the office on a daily basis anymore. However, they are expected to live within commuting distance to their assigned office locations, so they can attend periodic team gatherings and strategy sessions in person.
Employees who prefer to work mostly or completely from home can do so as long as their job allows for it. But they need to be close enough to the office to come in on occasion when requested by their manager. Some roles will still require being in the office more regularly.
LinkedIn offices are being redesigned to have more collaboration spaces and fewer assigned desks. Employees will reserve a desk when they plan to come into the office. There will also be some drop-in spaces available if employees decide to work in the office spontaneously.
Team leaders at LinkedIn will determine the right balance of in-person and virtual collaboration needed for their groups. Typically this will involve a few multi-day in-person meetings per year for planning and bonding.
The idea is to take advantage of the benefits of remote work while still nurturing in-person relationships and company culture. LinkedIn seems to have landed on a flexible but office-centric policy compared to some tech companies that have gone fully remote.
Employee Reaction to LinkedIn’s Virtual First Model
In general, LinkedIn employees seem enthusiastic about the Virtual First model, valuing the increased flexibility and autonomy. In LinkedIn’s internal employee surveys, interest in full-time remote work has risen significantly during the pandemic.
But some employees are concerned about potential downsides like reduced visibility and career progression if they choose to work remotely more often. There are also worries about diminishing company culture without regular in-person interactions.
LinkedIn is attempting to address these concerns by focusing on outcome-based performance management rather than counting hours in the office. They are also prioritizing asynchronous communication and transparency from managers.
The implementation will continue evolving in 2021 and beyond based on employee feedback. So far LinkedIn appears happy with the increased productivity and work-life balance they’ve seen during the shift to remote work.
How Other Tech Companies Compare
Here’s a look at the current remote work policies of some other major tech companies for comparison:
| Company | Remote Work Policy |
|---|---|
| Allowing existing employees to request permanent remote work if their role allows | |
| Employees can work remotely permanently even after offices reopen | |
| Microsoft | Hybrid remote/in-office policy, up to each team |
| Apple | Employees expected to return to offices 3 days/week starting in September 2021 |
| Hybrid model with 60% of time required in the office |
Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft have embraced permanent remote work options similar to LinkedIn’s approach. Apple and Google expect more in-office presence but are allowing some flexibility.
It’s clear the pandemic has accelerated remote work adoption across the tech sector. But policies vary in terms of which roles can work remotely and how often employees are expected to come into physical offices.
The Bottom Line
So are LinkedIn employees working from home? The short answer is yes, the majority have been remote since March 2020.
Going forward, LinkedIn is adopting a “Virtual First” model that gives employees flexibility to work remotely frequently, though not necessarily full-time. Employees are expected to live near their offices and attend in-person meetings a few times per year.
This approach aims to strike a balance between remote work’s advantages and the benefits of in-person collaboration. Other tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook have rolled out similar flexible policies during the pandemic.
The coming years will reveal whether hybrid models like LinkedIn’s can truly deliver the best of both remote and office work. But for now, LinkedIn employees have embraced the new virtual freedoms enabled by advanced technology.
Their experience will help shape best practices for remote work well beyond the pandemic. With thoughtful implementation, LinkedIn hopes to become an exemplar of distributed work at scale in the modern era.
Conclusion
In summary, most LinkedIn employees have been working remotely since March 2020 when the company closed offices due to COVID-19. LinkedIn has since announced a “Virtual First” hybrid remote work policy going forward.
Employees can work from home frequently but are expected to live near offices and attend periodic in-person meetings and events. The goal is balancing remote work’s flexibility with the value of face-to-face collaboration.
Many other tech companies like Microsoft and Twitter have also shifted to flexible remote work. But precise policies vary across the industry.
As one of the first large companies to embrace remote work, LinkedIn’s experience will provide key data points. Their Virtual First model aims to pioneer a productive and engaging distributed work culture.