A new breed of company

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to design digital workplaces or “offices in the cloud.” These environments enable companies to allow flexible and remote working for their teams. I also teach the digital literacy, fluency, communication and collaboration skills needed to work in these modern technology-rich workplaces.

This is a group photo of the GitLab team taken at their annual summit a few months back in Cape Town. There are currently approximately 350 in the team.

The company is doing really well. Last year they made $10.5 million in revenue.

But here is the fascinating thing about this team. They don’t have offices. The entire team is distributed and is spread out in 45 countries. So instead of commuting to and from an office, they get to work by logging on online, from anywhere. (They do have a boardroom though. This is situated in San Francisco and is there primarily for investor meetings etc.)

GitLab is part of a new breed of company. These companies are leading the way and showcasing what the future of work looks like. They were recently included in this list of 125 companies that are described as remote-only companies. (You can check out others on the list here)

There are so many businesses that can work like this, and the smart ones are building the capability to do so. They know there are huge benefits on the other side of that work. Benefits that range from serious cost savings, to more productive, happier employees.

These virtual companies are busy disrupting their industries because they are able to be more agile, attract talent from a global talent pool and can work in ways that companies stuck in a traditional brick and mortar office can’t.

What a fascinating time to be alive! The Work from Anywhere era is truly here.