Half of Facebook employees could work from home permanently in 5 or 10 years, Mark Zuckerberg announced Thursday at a conference for his employees publicly broadcast on the platform.
The social media giant will be “the world’s most advanced company in remote work,” said Facebook founder and boss, who had 45,000 employees worldwide by the end of 2019.
In late April, the company announced its intention to hire an additional 10,000 people under the social changes linked to the pandemic, which represent opportunities and markets to maintain or conquer by the American group.
But new employees, some of whom will be interviewed only online, will join the company in a moment of turmoil and uncertainty as to when it will return to normal.
“I would like to emphasize that covid is not going to disappear for long,” Zuckerberg said, before presenting plans for the organization of work within his company.
Facebook, 95% of whose staff are telecomworkering at the moment, had recently announced that most of its employees would continue to work from home until the end of the year.
Nor will it organize a face-to-face meeting of more than 50 people by July 2021, at best.
According to an internal study, more than 50% of employees are considered more productive in telework, and between 20 and 40% say they are interested in the possibility of working remotely permanently. But half of them would like to get back to the office as soon as possible.
Zuckerberg said he was “optimistic” about the potential benefit of working remotely. “We do this because employees demand it, but because we are here to serve the world and our community, and unlock as much innovation as possible.”
Among the advantages, he mentioned more equitable career opportunities, more diverse recruitment (geographically and among minorities), savings on infrastructure and wages (which will fit the place of residence) and a greater chance of keeping people forced to move for personal reasons.
And of course, the least impact for the planet.
“By 2020 it’s easier to move bytes than atoms, so I prefer our employees to teleport over video or virtual reality rather than get caught up in environmentally polluting traffic jams,” Zuckerberg joked.
