Academia.edu Work-Life Balance & Wellbeing

How has hybrid office culture evolved at Academia.edu? 

In the early years, like many companies, we were small and mostly if not entirely in the office in San Francisco. It provided us with easy access to co-workers, collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Academia was a tight-knit group of people all working on a common goal: building a company rooted in our mission to accelerate the world’s research.

When Covid-19 hit, we were stunned the same way most other in-office companies were, and we had to adapt to a fully remote culture and hiring practices. It was an effort to build culture and collaboration virtually, but we held tight to our values and continued to foster person-to-person interaction and brainstorming. When it was safe to do so, we started bringing people together by regularly hosting companywide retreats. We would get to know our colleagues during beautiful hikes and boat rides or brainstorm new product ideas gathered in a massive living room with beautiful views of the woods.

What is one lesson you have learned since the start of your hybrid work setup? What tools set your people up for success?

As the world started reentering the workplace, we knew we had an important decision to make: embrace remote work or double down on our in-person collaborative values. In the end, we didn’t believe that the choice was binary, and instead, we landed on a scenario somewhere in the middle. We support and are grateful for the talent that hiring remotely provides Academia, and we have talented teammates located around the world. However, we want the majority of our colleagues to have access to frequent in-person interactions, and in mid-2023, just ahead of a big hiring sprint, we decided that all new hires would be within driving distance of the office. We had already implemented a hybrid work policy in that our local teammates were in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

To this day, we are hiring and we hire exclusively in San Francisco under the hybrid work policy, this allows for flexibility and in-person collaboration. Our teams utilize video communication tools to stay connected, and we support our employees with their at-home set-up by providing the equipment they need to be comfortable.

What do you think is the secret behind Academia’s success when it comes to hybrid work?

Our success is the result of focusing on flexibility, autonomy, in-person collaboration and a sense of belonging. Employees appreciate the flexibility and autonomy of working from home two days a week and as they see fit within the core working hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. PST. Despite the benefits of remote work, employees value the opportunity to collaborate face-to-face. Being able to connect with coworkers in person fosters better communication, strengthens relationships, and enhances teamwork. We regularly host in-office events, team happy hours and catered lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The hybrid model supports team building and a sense of community by providing regular opportunities for employees to come together. This strengthens their connection to their teams and the company, reinforcing a positive and inclusive work culture. We continue to bring all of our teammates together regularly, so regardless of where someone lives, they have frequent access to their colleagues. In the past year, we have hosted an LLM hackathon in Austin, Texas, a five-year planning session in the office and various global gatherings by team, department and initiative.