Indeed to allow ‘vast majority’ of Irish employees to work from home forever

Recruitment company is latest to offer longer-term flexible working to employees

Job site Indeed has become the latest company to tell its staff that they will have the opportunity to work from home on a permanent basis, with the “vast majority” of its 1,000 Irish staff set to be allowed continue to work on a remote basis – either full or part time – once the pandemic ends. The company said it remains committed to the leases on its Dublin offices but will “revisit as they come up for renewal”.

The announcement from Indeed follows similar moves by tech companies such as Google and Twitter. According to the company, which opened an Irish office in 2012 and now employs more than 1,000 people in two Dublin offices, while its Irish workforce will largely remain working from home until July 2021, thereafter employees may be entitled to remain remote workers.

“While remote work is not ideal for everyone, what we’ve learned is that our employees can be equally productive working at home, and that flexible work options give us a better quality of life,” Indeed said.

Roles

The company has assessed all of the roles of its employees, and broken each into one of three categories: completely remote; hybrid work from home/work from the office; and full-time in the office. According to a spokeswoman, “the vast majority of employees” will find that their role falls into the three categories, and they will then be given the option of how they want to work after July 2021. Some roles, such as those in office management and IT, will be required to be office based.

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Employees who prefer working in an office environment will be able to do so, as Indeed said there are no plans to switch permanently to an entirely remote workforce.

“Indeed plans to prioritise certain employees when returning to the office. For example, those who have expressed a high degree of eagerness to come back to the office and have indicated hardship factors with working from home.”

The company currently has two Dublin offices, in St Stephen’s Green and Sir John Rogerson’s Quay. According to the spokeswoman, the company will revisit leases as they come up for renewal. “However at this time, we are committed to our current leases,” she said.

Fiona Reddan

Fiona Reddan

Fiona Reddan is a writer specialising in personal finance and is the Home & Design Editor of The Irish Times