About this episode
The predecessor to the office was Florence’s Uffizi Gallery – an admin building to the Medici mercantile empire. That was in… 1560. In the centuries to come, work was revolutionized, with perhaps the most well-known inflection of Ford Motors adopting the 40-hour work week in 1926. The cubicle? We have Robert Propst to thank for that, entering the picture in 1968. It wasn’t until the 80s when the Internet appeared on the scene and wifi released in 1997, forever changing the way people live and work. Since then, companies have continued to adopt many of the practices from the 20th century, despite the possibilities being fundamentally different. COVID sent a shock into that system, forcing many people to adopt a distributed model and despite much debate about what the future holds, this episode will highlight the many ways that companies are continuing to adapt. Will companies shift toward more asynchronous work? How will a distributed model shift the way we hire? How will companies attract top talent, and is remote the only benefit that matters? What workers and companies will come out on top of this sea change? And of course… is the office dead? We’ll address these questions, and much more! Topics covered: 00:00 - History of remote work 3:27 - Is the office dead? 7:05 - Async vs sync 16:18 - Building culture remotely 27:15 - Attracting top talent 31:16 - The evolution of benefits 36:04 - Remote work vs work 39:29 - Location-based pay 46:36 - Open salaries 51:23 - Vetting top talent 55:32 - The need to adapt 58:39 - Rewriting the rules 1:03:09 - Infrastructure gaps Resources: GitLab’s Remote Handbook: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/ Deel’s Salary Insights Tool: https://www.deel.com/salary-insights Deel’s State of Global Hiring report: https://www.deel.com/state-of-global-hiring-2022 Deel: Deel’s website: https://www.deel.com/ Deel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/deel Alex on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bouazizalex SafetyWing SafetyWing’s website: https://safetywing.com/ SafetyWing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/safetywing Sondre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SRasch GitLab: GitLab’s website: https://about.gitlab.com/ GitLab on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gitlab Darren on Twitter: https://twitter.com/darrenmurph Stay Updated: Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/a16z Find us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Subscribe on your favorite podcast app: https://a16z.simplecast.com/ Follow our host: https://twitter.com/stephsmithio Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Stay Updated: Find a16z on X Find a16z on LinkedIn Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.