Embracing Virtual Work, Because Work Should Work for Everyone

Chi Thorsen-McCarthy, head of creative at Thumbtack, used to daydream about settling into a rambling farmhouse on acres of land with her partner. Oliver Pucker, lead business operations manager, wanted a flexible routine that would give him the freedom to take a couple week-long working vacations around California.

Today, Chi lives on 15 acres of land in the Finger Lakes in upstate New York with sheep, chickens, a border collie, and a just-planted vineyard. And while Oliver has settled back into his routine in San Francisco, we love that he can call the road “home” when adventures arise.

While the COVID-19 pandemic brought very few silver linings, it ushered in a new way of working at Thumbtack that — for many of us — has had profoundly positive effects on the way we live.

Since we announced Thumbtack’s virtual-first model, 26% of our more than 900 employees have moved to a location outside of our four HQ cities: San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Toronto, and Manila — with employees in 28 states and counting in the U.S.** And an additional 10% tell us they’re planning to follow in Chi’s footsteps and make a move in the next year.

But building a virtual-first workplace isn’t just about building more flexibility and balance into our lives. It’s also about bringing our world-class culture and career opportunities to top talent, rather than expecting them to come to us. We firmly believe that office-centric hiring is a thing of the past, and we’ve seen a 33% increase in applicants to Thumbtack now that our employees can live in 28 U.S. states, all of Ontario, Canada, and all of the Philippines (with more locations on the way). In fact, nearly 60% of new hires in the past three months have been outside of California and Utah.

So what does it look like, exactly, to join a company where your team members might live around the world, across the country, or even down the block? It’s an evolution of the concept of the “workplace” to include the relationships you build while taking virtual cooking classes or in-person collaborative work with your team quarterly, meeting coworkers for local community events* in your city, and spending time with everyone once a year at all-company Camp Thumbtack events.

Do you want to learn more about what virtual first can mean for you just like Chi and Oliver or does this sound like a company you’d want to work for? We’re hiring! Go to www.thumbtack.com/careers to learn more about Thumbtack and our current openings.

*Local communities (cities with 5 or more employees in the same area) are currently established in 16 cities: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh-Durham, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Toronto.

**We currently have employees in 28 states and counting: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington