WORK FROM ANYWHERE

Distributed-First Is the Future of Work at Spotify

February 12, 2021

The future of how we work has been a popular topic inside the walls of Spotify for a while now. Our leadership team has long championed the idea that digitalization and globalization are massive drivers for a more flexible workplace that better suits both our band and our business. 

Needless to say, the events of the last year accelerated this thinking—and there’s no better time than now to transition into a distributed-first model—a workplace that isn’t built on the premise that employees need to gather in an office with traditional desk setups. 

Today, Spotify is proud to introduce Work From Anywhere (WFA), a new way of collaborating that allows Spotifiers to work from wherever they do their best thinking and creating. Through this distributed-first mentality, we are giving employees the opportunity to elect a Work Mode—whether they’d prefer to work mostly at home or in the office—as well as their geographic location. 

Here’s our thinking:

  • Work isn’t something our people come to the office for, it’s something they do.
  • Effectiveness can’t be measured by the number of hours people spend in an office.  Instead, giving people the freedom to choose where they work will boost effectiveness.
  • Giving our people more flexibility will support a better work-life balance and also help tap into new talent pools while keeping our existing band members.
  • A distributed-first structure will challenge us to improve our communication and collaboration practices, processes, and tools.  

As we continue evolving, we want to make sure our office spaces do too. As part of our ongoing Dynamic Workplace effort, we’re reevaluating our office spaces across the globe for increased sustainability, flexibility, and well-being to ensure that all of our employees, regardless of ability or situation, can work comfortably and efficiently. The ultimate goal of our new design approach is to ensure that employees have a place where they can focus, collaborate, and create—whether that’s at a desk, in a conference room, or in cafe spaces.

Read more about our philosophy on the future of work and WFA on our HR blog.