Yelp has closed three U.S. offices due to the preference of most employees to work remotely.
Yelp CEO and cofounder Jeremy Stoppelman posted a blog Thursday stating that the company would close its offices in New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. on July 29. The online reservation and review company plans to reduce its Phoenix office.
Stoppelman stated that the offices he was closing had a weekly average usage of less than 2 % of their available workspaces.
Yelp, a San Francisco-based company, announced in February 2021 a remote-first model of work. Yelp's success with remote workers has been proven, Stoppelman stated. The company had a record-breaking revenue of just under $1 billion in 2021.
Stoppelman stated that Yelp continues to enjoy the benefits of remote work and that it is the best way forward.
Yelp is one of the many companies that have embraced remote work in the wake of the pandemic. Dropbox joined a growing list of tech companies to declare themselves "virtual-first" employers in March, the first time this has ever happened in corporate history.
Remote work is not something that all tech companies support. After a memo from Tesla entitled "Remote Work is No Longer Acceptable" was leaked, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla was asked for his thoughts. Musk responded to a Twitter question by saying that he would not respond to people who consider working in an office antiquated.
According to internal surveys, 86% of Yelp employees prefer working remotely, with 87% saying that it makes them more productive. Only 1% of the global workforce has been coming to work every day since the company reopened its offices nine months ago.
Stoppelman stated that the remote-first policy also helps with recruiting.
He said, "Our workforce used to be concentrated in areas where we had offices. But now we have employees in every state in America and four other countries."
Yelp, with 4,400 employees, announced that its offices in San Francisco and London will be open while it works to close other locations.
