Square Enix Expects 80% Of Employees To Work From Home Permanently
Square Enix, the Japanese video game giant behind the Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider games, has announced that it’s making working from home permanent for the vast majority of its employees.
The new policy, which will establish remote working as a “permanent and core program”, comes into force on December 1. Square Enix says it will designate each employee as either “home based” (working an average of at least three days per week from home) or “office based” (working an average of at least three days per week from the office).
Square Enix says it expects around 80 percent of its employees to be designated as home-based from next month, with some employees likely to office-based due to the nature of their work.
“Rather than utilizing work from home solely as a means of preventing infections during the current pandemic, the Company will establish it as a permanent and core program among the working styles it accommodates,” Square Enix said in a news release on Wednesday.
“In so doing, the Company hopes not only to create a flexible and diverse working environment, but also to further bolster productivity and help employees achieve the optimal work-life balance.”
The company also said the new policy will enable it to recruit more diverse employees, as well as to establish an organization capable of adapting to unexpected developments such as disasters and changes in employment models.
“By adopting a new style of working for a new world, the Company will enable employees to unleash even greater creativity as it continues to provide its customers around the world with content and services that fulfill their expectations,” Square Enix said. “In so doing, the Company will strive to further enhance its corporate value.”
Square Enix joins a growing list of companies that have said they will to continue to allow their employees to work from home on a permanent basis. Twitter was among the first to announce that staff will be given the option to work from home forever, and Microsoft recently confirmed that it’s employees will be given the opportunity to work remotely after the Covid-19 pandemic.