Workplace software company Okta plans to let most of its employees work remotely on a permanent basis, becoming the latest Silicon Valley company to adopt sweeping office policy changes amid the pandemic — and in the face of shifting US immigration policy.
This spring, Okta told employees they could choose not to return to the office until a vaccine or effective treatment to Covid-19 has been developed.
According to CNN Business, as much as 85% of Okta’s workforce is expected to work remotely under the new policy, up from 30% before the coronavirus crisis. The company has roughly 2,600 employees.
Okta’s move shows how a workplace trend toward permanently supporting work-from-anywhere is accelerating.
According to Okta CEO Todd McKinnon, the pandemic’s enduring effects, along with recent US immigration restrictions announced by President Trump, have sped up those plans.
“We’re very fortunate in that the whole premise of our product is ‘boundary-less work environments,'” McKinnon said.
About 70 Okta employees have already sought to take advantage of the remote work policy. Among them are a handful of employees outside the United States who could not enter the country to work due to Trump’s extended limits on temporary worker visas.
“Directly because of what the US administration is doing, it’s led them to not want to have to deal with the problem and we’ve been able to move them to other countries, like Canada,” McKinnon said. “Maybe their visa is coming up in a year, or they’re concerned about the green card process, so they’re moving to a different country. But it’s a shame for the US.”
Okta announced its second quarter financial results today with total revenue hitting $200 million, an increase of 43% year-over-year.