Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-05-18)

◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek May 18, 2020

19

andTwitterInc.hastoldsomeworkersthatif they
wishtoworkfromhomepermanently,theycan.
Employeesarenowconsideringthethousandsof
dollarstheycouldsavelivingsomewhereelse—
maybeevenpermanently.Urbanparentsofyoung
childrensuddenlyfindthemselvescovetingback-
yardsandplayroomsinlargerhomesthatwouldbe
affordableona techsalaryprettymuchanywhere
excepttheBayArea.
Someemployees,expectingyearsofrolling
shelter-in-placeorders,aremakinglong-termlife
decisionsnow.Andtheyhavea lotofhousing
options,giventhatthestartingsalaryfora software
engineeratFacebookandGoogleexceedssixfig-
ures,accordingtoGlassdoordata.
Christy Lake, chief people officer at San
Francisco-basedTwilioInc.,saysseveralemploy-
eeshavealreadyapproachedtheirmanagersand
HRrepresentativestodiscussplanstorelocate.
Thecloudcommunicationscompanyexpectsmore
than20%ofitsoffice-basedemployeeswilltran-
sitiontoworkingremotelyinthelongterm.“It’s
percolatingbig-time,”Lakesays.Sheexpectsthe
companywillhavetocomeupwithformalpolicies
andmaybeoffera relocationbonustoemployees
whodecidetomakethejump.
Butthetrendraisescomplicatedquestions.
If employeesmovetoa lessexpensivelocation,
shouldTwilioadjusttheirsalariesaccordingly?
“It’sprobablynotgreatbusinesspracticetopay
BayAreacompsinMichigan,”Lakesays.Andwhen
it comestimetopromote,wouldthoseemployees
have the same opportunity to advance as every-
body else? “We need to think proactively,” she says.
Even though the tech industry builds the tools
to help people work remotely and connect online,
it’s notoriously office-centric. Facebook, Google,
Apple, and others have built sprawling campuses
with catered lunches, gyms, bike-share programs,
and even laundry services. The campuses are so

centraltotheirculturethatcompanieswillpayfor

Wi-Fi-equippedcommutershuttlesforemployees

livingtwohoursaway.

Whethertechemployeeswillactuallystartto

leavetheValleyfortheruralcountrysideremains

tobeseen,andtherearedrawbackstodialingin

remotelyona permanentbasis.In2013,YahooInc.

decideditslaxpoliciesonworkingfromhomehad

preventedit frominnovatingandrequiredevery-

onetocomebacktotheoffice.Butworkplaces

won’tbethesame,evenearlynextyear.It may

notbesafetogatherdozensofemployeesinthe

sameshuttlebus,servethemfoodwiththesame

utensils,orsponsoroff-sitegatheringsandholiday

parties.“Oncetherealitytakeshold,whywould

weliveinSF?”Hecklauasks.

ButhisSacramentoplanisn’tfoolproof.Justas

peoplecanworkfromanywhere,employerscan

hirefromanywhere.“Thetalentpoolgetsmas-

sive,”hesays.“Whywouldmyemployerpayme

SFwages?”�SarahFrier

THEBOTTOMLINE Thepandemicis leadingmanytechemployees

toconsiderworkingfromhomepermanently,sotheycanescape

California’ssky-highrentsforlessexpensivedigselsewhere.

● Talkspacesays

artificialintelligence

canadvancethe

fieldofmentalhealth

TheComputer

ListeningtoYour

TherapySession

Inthemidstofthepandemic,morepeopleare

turningtoonlinetherapytodealwithanxiety,

depression,andrelationshipstrife.Talkspace,

whichhiredgoldmedalOlympicswimmerMichael

Phelpsasa spokesman,sayswebtrafficdoubledin

justthreemonths.

TheNewYork-basedcompanyis a pioneerin

theonlinetherapybusiness,whichlinkspatients

witha licensedcounselorbyvideochatandtext,

encouragingthemtoopenupintheprivacyof

theirownhome.

Whilethedetailsofmostin-personsessionsnever

leave the room, Talkspace says it’s trying something

differenttoadvancethefieldoftalktherapyandgive

itselfa competitiveadvantage.It’susingtoolssuch

asmachinelearningandartificial intelligence to

analyze transcripts of therapy sessions, which have

been scrubbed of any identifying data. The com-

pany hopes its sophisticated algorithms can pick

up on trends in a patient’s behavior and speech

● Number of people

who have so far used

the Talkspace app

1.5m

DATA: PAYSCALE, U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

San New York Sacramento Chicago Cincinnati

Francisco

Flight Risk
Salariesandrents,ratioofcitytoU.S.median
◼Salaryfora softwaredeveloper
◼Rentfora two-bedroomapartment

U.S.

median

1.4x

2.1x