What it like to take a company with 3,000 employees distributed across 25 offices and make it fully remote with just a few weeks& notice?I hopped on a call with Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson to hear about how their transition has gone so far, and what he learned from the process.Twilio CEO Jeff LawsonRemote work isn''t brand-new for Twilio; as with a lot of software companies, many employees have worked remotely.
But it still a massive shift: Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, Lawson says around 10% of the company worked remotely.
Today, it everyone.For a company like us to go from partially virtual to fully virtual in a short period of time,& he says, &it not without its hiccups, but it has worked pretty well.Things are weird for everyoneright now, so compassion is keyShifting to remote work might make things feel different for a while — but those differences pale in comparison to the other changes people are coping with in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.I think the fact that you are distributed is lesser than the fact that you&re like, not allowed to go outside,& says Lawson.
&You&re worried about friends and family and you&re reading the news… those things are more impactful.