Why Remote Work Doesn’t Mean the End of Office Space

Block, the financial services-focused tech company known until recently as Square, was one of the first high-profile tech businesses to allow permanent remote work when founder and CEO Jack Dorsey announced the policy in early 2020. And yet more than a year later, the majority of employees said they wanted to work from an office at least one day per week, according to an internal survey done in the second quarter of this year.

Along with a host of other companies including Twitter, Coinbase, Dropbox and LinkedIn, Block has discovered that offering entirely remote work doesn’t necessarily mean the end of paying for an office. Some companies want to ensure that workers have places to collaborate, while many employees still want a place for in-person meetings, career development opportunities and social interaction. The challenge for bosses has been determining how much and what kind of space to offer.