Grammarly permanently switches to a hybrid WFH work model

Grammarly, a Ukrainian company that develops an AI-based writing assistant, is shifting employees to the hybrid-remote work format on a permanent basis.

What happened

  • Grammarly switched to a remote work format in March 2020. According to management’s plan, the employees planned to return to the offices when it was safe to do so. However, after a while, the company decided to continue the remote work format permanently.
  • However, the remote work will be in a hybrid format. In the future, team members will periodically meet with their colleagues for in-person collaborations. As Grammarly representatives explain, these meetings could consist of strategic planning or launching cross-functional projects.
  • The meetings will be held quarterly at one of Grammarly’s hubs in Kyiv, San Francisco, New York, or Vancouver. 
  • Besides, the employees who wish to work from the office will be able to do so – the offices will be open.

“The hybrid WFH work model assumes that all members of the same team will be in three adjacent time zones with a common hub while working remotely. This will provide at least six hours of overlap during the workday for fast communication and convenient organization of online meetings,” the company commented.

Grammarly plans to implement the hybrid-remote working model starting in 2022. Until then, the staff can work remotely on a full-time basis without having to attend offline meetings quarterly.

Why it’s important

During the pandemic and quarantine restrictions, many companies switched to remote working. In 2021, in a world where much of the population has been vaccinated and COVID cases are decreasing, there are still people who prefer to work remotely. For example, previously, Apple announced its plans to bring employees back to the office, but some employees pushed back against it. Moreover, many employees already had to quit during the pandemic due to an inability to work from home, and now still others are being forced to choose between family or Apple.

About the company

Grammarly was founded by Alex Shevchenko and Maxim Litvinov from Kyiv in 2009. The company develops an online AI-based writing assistant that helps people proofread and edit their documents.

In 2017, Grammarly raised $110 million during its first funding round. Then, in 2019, it secured another $90 million in the second round and became a unicorn. Grammarly’s total valuation exceeds $1 billion. Today, the company employs over 500 people in Kyiv, San Francisco, New York, and Vancouver.

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