Indeed.com, an Austin-based careers site was one of the first big employers in Austin  to tell all its workers to work from home when the coronavirus pandemic began — even before there were any confirmed cases in the city. Now they are the first to tell its employees — about 2,000 of whom are based in Austin — that it won’t require them to go into any of its offices before July 2021.

As new COVID-19 developments unfold around the world, Indeed’s number one priority continues to be the health and safety of our people. Keeping the situation in mind Indeed has advised that no employee will be required to return to any of its global offices before July of 2021. In doing so, Indeed aims to make it easier for employees to plan for their life needs, such as the upcoming school year and leases.  

Paul Wolfe, Indeed SVP of Global Human Resources said, “In early March 2020, Indeed was one of the first companies to shift to an entirely remote workforce. During this time, we’ve implemented programs and offered additional support to our 10,000+ employees to successfully maintain productivity and engagement. Our dedicated Return to Work Task Force is working diligently to map out a strategy, including piloting partial office openings this year based on certain criteria. We will continue to take a conservative approach to return to our offices around the world in order to best protect our employees. “ 

Working remotely gives employees the option of self-isolating amid the pandemic, but it can erode boundaries between office and personal life.  In order to help employees maintain balance and wellbeing, Indeed has also introduced an extra day of paid holiday every month, called a ‘You Day’. 

Indeed operates out of several of Austin’s most prominent office buildings, including a relatively new tower at Braker and Burnet in the Domain, a downtown high rise where it uses several floors and a large office building at RR 2222 and Loop 360. It’s also been named an anchor tenant at a new downtown tower that is scheduled for completion in 2021.

The decision, announced Wednesday, comes as confirmed COVID-19 cases have risen dramatically in Texas. Meanwhile, Austin Independent School District announced it will not offer in-person classes when school starts Aug. 18, instead holding virtual classes for at least the first three weeks of the school year.

Indeed, and its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., announced on March 3 that it was asking all employees to work from home. Just a few days later, the city announced that SXSW would be cancelled.

Later in March, Indeed shared its guide to working from home as a resource for other companies to explore.

More recently, Indeed’s employees founded the global Parents & Caregivers Inclusion Resource Group to share resources for parents at Indeed, and it has extended telehealth resources, counseling and childcare resources as well.

“The group has since provided helpful resources for working parents, and organized roundtable discussions and panels with employees and members of our leadership team to discuss the needs of parents and caregivers at Indeed,” Wolfe said. “As these challenges are different for all parents, our leadership team has meetings with the leaders of our Parents and Caregivers IRG to hear feedback and ideas on how the company can best support them right now.”