Scores of tech companies around the world have switched to remote work or some sort of hybrid model during the past two COVID-hit years. In China, though, most tech firms have gone back to the office since summer 2020, thanks to the country’s low infection rates as a result of its zero-COVID policy. Despite the normalcy of life, one Chinese company decided to stick with remote work.
Starting March 1, China’s largest flight and hotel booking platform Trip.com will let employees work up to two days a week from home upon permission, it announced Tuesday. The company, founded in 1999 and rebranded from Ctrip to Trip.com in 2019, made the move after seeing “improved wellness” in 75% of its 1,600 staff who worked remotely during a six-month trial last year. The experiment included staff with core technical, product, business and marketing roles and about 400 supervisors, a spokesperson for the firm told TechCrunch.
As many as 93% of the participants felt they used their time “more efficiently,” and the firm’s turnover rate, which tracks voluntary resignations, dropped by roughly one-third in the period. Nearly 60% said they “strongly” supported hybrid work when the trial ended.
Employees can apply to work from home, a cafe or anywhere else of their choice from March on. Managers in each department will decide who can request to work remotely based on team targets and each person’s situation, said the spokesperson. The managers also have the right to make adjustments to the arrangement at their discretion.
The hybrid practice will first roll out at Trip.com’s China offices, while its overseas branches will adopt the model “according to local circumstances and COVID-19 protection measures.”
Trip.com, which is listed on Nasdaq and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has made international expansion by buying up foreign rivals over the years. In a $1.74 billion deal in 2016, it scooped up Scotland-based Skyscanner. In 2019, it increased its shares in India’s MakeMyTrip to nearly half. More recently in 2020, it bought Dutch travel group Travix for an undisclosed amount.
As of December 2020, Trip.com, its subsidiaries and affiliates had a combined headcount of around 33,400. Around 30,000 are in China.
James Liang, co-founder and chairman of the board at Trip.com, is a frequent commentator on China’s social issues. When conceiving the flexible work schedule, Liang, a computer scientist and economist, apparently had China’s demographic challenges in mind as well.
In a statement, Liang said a hybrid workplace is “a multi-win for companies, employees and society. Not only does it improve employee satisfaction without compromising efficiency, it also helps reduce traffic congestion and environmental protection; alleviates high housing prices and regional disparities; and contributes to families, female career development and higher fertility rates.”
Trip.com is adopting the hybrid office at a time the overwork culture in China’s tech sector increasingly draws concerns and criticism. The firm shows that remote work doesn’t compromise productivity; 71.9% of the participants from its 2021 experiment reported hybrid work had no impact on their performance.
“We hope that hybrid work models will be promoted more across mainstream Chinese companies in the future, which will have a positive and far-reaching impact on society and economy,” Liang said.