A Swiss-based study found that 70% of professionals work remotely at least one day a week, while 53% engage in remote work for at least half the week. The number of remote workers is definitely on the rise. US market research firm Gallup found an increase in remote workers between 2012 and 2016, from 39 to 43 percent respectively. Many people actually learn coding, so they can work remotely. What are some of best remote companies to work for? Let’s have a look.
Started in 2005, this company is behind WordPress, Vault Press, Cloudup and others. Says the company website: ‘Everyone works from the location they choose.’ Consequently, workers are spread out over more than 50 countries. The way it operates is that you interview with Automatic and if you’re accepted, you’ll work together on a contract project lasting two to six weeks to see how you work together. Once a year the whole country meets up in different venues around the world for seven days.
Some perks include open vacation time (no set number of days per year), an allowance for a home office setup, open parental leave, paid two to three-month sabbaticals every five years and a branded laptop at your four-year anniversary.
This social media management company has a fully remote team in 15 countries, 11 time zones and 42 cities. They have a a 45-day contract period to see how things go and they are especially interested in people who have worked as freelancers or on startups.
Expect multiple Buffer international retreats every year where the whole team gets together – their most recent trip was to Cape Town, South Africa. (You can even check out their video of their latest trip here.) Additional perks include: a free MacBook, company equity and paid family leave, as well as a monthly allowance for education.
This is a fully distributed company that has over 130 employers who work remotely from more than 15 countries. They offer web-based services that help companies automate the tedious and repetitive parts of their work. Zapier has even published a book on working remotely, titled The Ultimate Guide to Remote Work, which can be downloaded for free.
Perks include 14 weeks of parental leave, unlimited paid time off and up to $10 000 for relocating elsewhere (but this is only if you’re moving away from the Northern California Bay Area), healthcare, a retirement plan, profit sharing, computer and software setup, and two annual company retreats per year.
This is an analytics company that helps businesses understand their web and mobile site visitors. Over 216,273 companies in 184 countries use Hotjar to improve their sites. Although headquartered on the island of Malta, the company operates on a fully remote basis.
Perks include the following: 40 days of planned annual leave, €4000 home office budget, €2000 per year holiday budget, €2000 per year working together budget, €1000 per year personal development budget, €200 per month working space allowance, €200 per month wellbeing allowance, 16 weeks paid parental leave, a fitbit and a free Kindle paperwhite.
David Darmanin, the CEO of Hotjar, explains the biggest obstacle to remote work: ‘The main one is lack of face time and building one-on-one rapport. We overcome this by using tools like hangouts and hipchat video… but more importantly we do company retreats every 6 months in different places around the world. Our last event was a skiing trip in Utah.’ And the biggest advantage – the ability to hire the best people from anywhere in the world.
This company offers live chat software and has its own specific culture based on the following: ‘Chill out, Help each other grow, Assume good faith, Make it happen, Practice empathy, and Speak your mind.’
Some interesting perks offered by this distributed company include an unplugged vacation bonus, where workers are given a $1000 bonus for taking at least five days off without checking in with the company. They also offer charitable donation matching. More routine perks include flexible scheduling, internet/coworking stipends, professional development budget and 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
Listed above are five of the best remote companies to work for. There are other benefits to working remotely besides the perks offered by the various companies such as:
- A Canada Life Survey found that remote workers perceive themselves to be more productive – they rank their productivity at 7.7 out of 10, compared with a score of 6.5 given by those in open plan offices.
- Studies have found that remote workers have lower stress levels.
- More time for exercise and you can wear what you like, states The Telegraph.
- It’s better for the environment. Forbes states that the average commute in the UK is between 60-80 minutes. Remote work reduces our carbon footprint and allows companies to be more green.
- And for the company, it’s likely to reduce costs – think about lower leases, reduced expenditure for furniture, equipment and office supplies.
In closing, this piece has outlined the benefits of remote work and some of the best remote companies to work for. If this kind of work appeals to you, think about signing up for one of HyperionDev’s six-month, part-time online coding bootcamps in Full Stack Web Development, Mobile Development and Software Engineering. You’ll get your own personalised mentor to help you whenever you get stuck and coding skills are always in high demand at these remote companies.
