CIOReview | | 19 JULY 2022CXO INSIGHTSThe days of the lengthy rush-hour commute and day-to-day office grind have, for many, become a thing of the past. A few years into a pandemic, employees' expectations for what true flexibility looks like have changed drastically. At Zillow, we've leaned into that transition by supporting virtual collaboration and found it's paid off not only by helping our people thrive and our teams innovate, but also by making our workplace more equitable. In some cases, this shift has meant taking fuller advantage of technology that was already available to us. We've always been able to onboard new hires virtually, but since March 2020, all onboarding has been done this way, which means no one gets an in-person advantage over another.Since Zillow moved to a location-flexible workforce we've been able to bring in the best talent from a much larger hiring pool (we now have employees in 49 states, compared to 24 pre-pandemic). Our application data shows moving to a flexible workforce was the right move. Applications in 2021 increased 105 percent from the previous year, including more women and underrepresented groups. People with a wider array of backgrounds and perspectives can now help drive our company into its next chapter regardless of where they call home. To be mindful of our employees who span different time zones, Zillow established what we call "core collaboration hours" so no one is inadvertently scheduled in early-morning or late-night meetings. In turn, the core hours allow employees to be more intentional when managing their own time for focused individual work.Technology can also support career mobility and professional development within a flex work model. We never stopped hosting professional development and learning events, and leveraged technology to ensure that our employees could remain active or get involved virtually. Our data shows Zillow employees are being promoted at about the same rate now as they were pre-pandemic.While we see the cloud as an inherently more equitable work environment, embracing tech-enabled flexibility doesn't mean companies need to abandon face-to-face interactions altogether. We found that two-thirds of our employees said the main reasons they would go into Zillow offices would be social connection and team building. So, we launched what we call zRetreats: multi-day in-person gatherings that are less frequent but higher-impact. These are a mix of group work, brainstorming, and activities, with an emphasis on team bonding. And, if employees feel they work better in an office setting, they have the flexibility to do so. Over half of employees anticipate wanting to work from our newly renovated offices once a month, and office usage has been steadily increasing through the spring. There's still an appetite HOW TECHNOLOGY FUELS THE FUTURE OF WORK By David Beitel, Chief Technology Officer, ZillowDavid Beitel
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