Imagine it. It is 2013. The world’s 3rd largest technology company, GazTech, the enterprise softward company spun off by the Russian state oil giant, Gazprom, has 42,000 employees in 11 countries. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is headquarted in London’s trendy Notting Hill area.
GazTech’s headquarters, its only physical office space anywhere, looks something like this…
It occupies the first floor of a 100 year old, Georgian style building. Walk inside and you feel like you are in the lobby of a large, stylish hotel filled with exposed rosewood panelling all around. Cafe-like tables are arranged in three or four distinct areas, though the furniture is designed to be moved around for various uses. A small wait staff serves a full menu from the cafe, open from 7-7 five days a week. Rarely are more than 20 people in the cafe at a given time, usually having lunch or coffee. The office is simply there, for people to stop by when in town. The most common use of the space is for sales staff to hook up with clients when in London.
Otherwise, there are only about 50 full-time staff that turn up regularly. The CEO has a suite in the back, to meet with investors and talk with employees. A skeletal IT staff works together to coordinate maintenance on the global network, which has been sent for the most part into the clouds. Most critical data sits in the clouds with contracts at Amazon, Google, and a few other providers.
Among the staff who do work regularly at HQ in Notting Hill are a half dozen benefits and pensions advisors who make themselves available to consult employees on insurance and pensions options. Another group communicates with the investment community and makes themselves available for earnings reports and other news events regarding the company.
Asked recently about how the company has remained so aggressive and successful operating ‘without any offices’ in its far flung empire, GazTech’s CEO said: “We realized that we are really in the efficiency business, that that is what our enterprise products deliver. When we looked closely at our own work, our inefficiencies were staggering. We offloaded all 22 office locations around the world and relocated here to the casbah. We’ve never looked back. We save $350 million annually on office rent, and our employees get back on average 2 hours per day in their personal lives for not having to turn up and punch in… They’re happier. We make more money. What’s not to like about that?
The Butcher
Leave a Reply