Square Enix announced their decision to allow employees to permanently start working from home, starting December 1st, though it does come with some caveats.
Announced via a press release by the Japanese company, Square Enix made the decision based on how this year has played out, with many companies across multitudes of industries shifting their workforces and workflows to at-home models. As a result of this, Square gave reasoning as to why they will be making this move permanent, even beyond the pandemic.
Following a sustained period with these measures in place, the Company conducted a survey in June that demonstrated that roughly 80% of employees had a positive view of work from home. The Company also carefully considered a wide range of opinions from businesses as diverse as games, publication, and music regarding the practicality of work from home.
This doesn't mean, though, that every employee is going to be able to take advantage of this, however. Jobs at Square Enix will have the designation of "home based" or "office based" depending on the job or workload. And some employees might feel more comfortable working in the office versus at their house. But it's a pretty big cultural shift for one of gaming's longest-standing companies, and a way to help those who thrive in their own environment.
It'll be interesting to see if other companies eventually follow suit as we go deeper and deeper into this pandemic, as well as how it affects the companies larger games, such as Final Fantasy XIV.
