by - The number of Yelp employees living in Florida and Texas quadrupled between 2019 and 2022.
- And the proportion who live near its offices in New York, Washington, DC and Chicago fell by two-thirds.
- Yelp says it’s now fully remote, though some roles require workers to live in certain areas of the US.
A large number of Yelp employees relocated to Texas and Florida after the company announced a move to full remote work.
Between early 2019 and late 2022, the online review site’s staff living in Florida and Texas quadrupled, the company said in a Tuesday report.
Yelp said the proportion of workers living near its San Francisco headquarters fell 70% between 2019 and 2022, while the proportion living near its offices in New York, Washington, DC and Chicago fell , each decreased by two-thirds. The proportion who live near his Phoenix office fell by a third, Yelp added.
“Many of the employees we spoke to have relocated from former office locations to lower-cost-of-living areas, with some individuals buying their first homes or enjoying a slower pace of life,” Yelp chief people officer Carmen Whitney Orr told Bloomberg .
Yelp said in February 2021 it was moving to a remote-first model, and then last June announced it was going fully remote. CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, a staunch supporter of remote work, said employees are happier working from home and are “just as, if not more, productive.”
Stoppelman said that only 1% of Yelp’s global workforce came into the office each day, and that its New York, Chicago, and Washington DC offices averaged less than 2% occupancy, making them the “most consistently underutilized offices.” . He said the company is closing those three offices while downsizing its footprint in Phoenix.
Yelp says it’s now completely remote, though some roles require employees to live in certain areas of the U.S. and within 50 miles of a major airport. It still appears to have access to its San Francisco headquarters, which was listed as its headquarters in a financial filing earlier this month.
The pandemic prompted a huge move of office workers to Florida and Texas as they could work remotely and benefit from a better climate, lower taxes and a growing number of business openings across the states.
Yelp said its remote work policy means the company can access a “substantially larger talent pool” and attract more candidates.
