Spotify's head HR defends work-from-anywhere policy: ‘Can’t treat employees like children'

Spotify has noticed no negative impact on either productivity or efficiency since it adopted this work model, along with attrition rates dropping by 15%

Spotify is continuing to offer its popular work-from-anywhere policy at a time when companies such as Amazon, Apple, and JPMorgan are calling their employees back to the office.

Spotify Technologies SA signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

Defending the policy, Spotify’s chief human resources officer Katarina Berg said the company can't treat its employees like children.

“You can’t spend a lot of time hiring grown-ups and then treat them like children,” a Raconteur report quoted the CHRO as saying.

Spotify first introduced the work model, which allows the staff to determine how often they want to work from home or in the office, in February 2021, when countries began easing Covid-19 restrictions.

Berg said she is yet to find a valid reason to mandate employees to come back to the office.

“We are a business that’s been digital from birth, so why shouldn’t we give our people flexibility and freedom?” she said adding, “Work is not a place you come to, it’s something you do.”

Berg said Spotify has noticed no negative impact on productivity or efficiency since adopting this work model.

On top of that, attrition rates dropped by 15% since this decision. According to the report, talent retention is essential for innovation.

“While most CEOs were previously interested in the product and finances, they now realise you can’t develop a great product if you don’t have great people,” Berg was quoted as saying. “That is why more CEOs are trying to understand what motivates people.”

However, Spotify is still retaining most of its office space and looks to just downsize it a bit, since the company is also trying to find things that make people want to come to office rather than forcing them to.

An example would be its regular ‘listening lounge’ sessions, where popular artists come into its offices to perform. Examples include Rag ‘n’ Bone Man, Olivia Dean, Tom Grennan and Cat Burns.

Spotify employees are also encouraged to meet in person one week of a year during ‘core week’ when each team is expected to come together to collaboratively discuss strategy.

This is done because Berg acknowledges that “We (The company) know what happens when people sit down and you can actually look each other in the eye. It’s different to being on screen. Some people like to come into the office and meet people.”

However, despite all this, the organisation laid off 1,500 employees in December, reducing its headcount by 17%, according to the report, which cited as rising interest rates and investor push for cuts to preserve profits as reasons for having done so.