Twitter is allowing their employees to work from home forever

Before the pandemic hit many companies were still apprehensive about embracing remote work, but as Motherly co-founder Jill Koziol has previously stated, embracing remote work is key in supporting working parents.

Motherly has been fully remote since its inception and Twitter may soon be, too. This week Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told his employees that they will be able to work from home forever, even if Twitter’s offices reopen in the future.

As first reported by BuzzFeed News, Dorsey stated in an email that all in-person events at the company are canceled for 2020 and that Twitter’s offices may not open until September. When the workspaces do open employees won’t have to come if they are more comfortable working from home.

Certain industries, like tech, are more likely to offer telecommuting opportunities to employees but even if you don’t work for Twitter you can figure out how to make remote work last beyond the COVID-19 crisis.

Every year FlexJobs (a trustworthy website for remote job seekers) compiles a list of the top 100 companies offering telecommuting opportunities. Williams Sonoma is in the top 20, as is Education First, a provider of online educational programs. If you have a second language, a telephone interpreting firm is on the list. There are plenty of telecommuting opportunities in insurance as well.

If you’ve already got a job and you just don’t want to give up working from home when the pandemic ends, a simple conversation with your boss could pave the way for permanent remote work. According to the Harvard Business Review, parents asking to work remotely should present their argument in terms of how it would benefit the company (even if it would benefit your family even more). Explaining to your boss how eliminating a grinding commute would free you up to do more client outreach is one example of a compelling argument.

Findings from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that if you’re in management, business, financial operations or a so-called professional job, you’re more likely to hear “yes” when asking for telecommuting opportunities. But if it’s a no from your boss, don’t lose hope. In most two-parent U.S. households both parents are working, so the need for employee work-life balance is becoming a bigger and bigger part of corporate culture and paving the way for flexible work arrangements.

Motherly’s third annual State of Motherhood survey found that what mothers want most from employers in a post-COVID world is want more flexibility for themselves or their partners. We’re not past the pandemic yet, but Twitter’s bold declaration makes it more likely that when we do get to the other side of this crisis remote work won’t just be a dream, it will be a reality for more parents.

[A version of this post was originally published September 15, 2017.]

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