Square Enix Commits to Permanent Work-From-Home Program

In an official release posted to Square Enix’s website the morning of November 25th, 2020, they expressed a new commitment to a permanent work-from-home model. This program would be extended to “all executive employees,” and would come into effect starting on December 1st of this year.

This new policy follows the changing work circumstances made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it also seems to be the result of some prior experimentation “for enabling greater flexibility in working styles” before the pandemic hit.

A June 2020 survey found that “roughly 80% of employees had a positive view of work from home.” In addition, while gathering input from other businesses and community members, Square Enix has now committed to establishing work from home “as a permanent and core program.” The program will apply to Square Enix itself as well as to employees of its subsidiary Luminous Productions.

The decision was taken (according to the official release) “not only to create a flexible and diverse working environment, but also to further bolster productivity and help employees achieve the optimal work-life balance.” In establishing the program, Square Enix’s statement explained that it would combine “home-based” and “office-based” models. These models will depend on the particular needs of a given time period and the employee’s role.

“Home-based” employees will work an average of at least three days per week at home, while “office-based” employees’ workweek will involve at least three days at the office on average. For the foreseeable future, “home-based” will be the designation for “all eligible employees,” with the “office-based” designation to be applied to some positions or individual employees “as dictated by the nature of the work involved.”

These designations may be subject to change on a month-to-month basis as projects continue. For the moment, Square Enix “expects approximately 80% of employees to be home-based” during the first month of the program.

Indeed, it’ll be interesting to keep an eye on how this pans out moving forward. Some concerns have been expressed that work from home schedules may not truly allow for the division between work and off-hours life. There are also worries that the new program will be taken advantage of to coerce crunch in new ways.

Nonetheless, the expanding possibilities for hiring internationally without requiring employees to undergo expensive and alienating international relocations are major and worthy of note. So too is the opportunity to enable working conditions reflective of the needs and experiences of disabled employees.

Should the program indeed operate as intended, this is a promising sign for an industry with an endemic and ongoing crunch and employee abuse problem. There is cause here for hope that other large game development companies will take note and follow suit. Square Enix’s decision may prove to be an industry-changer.