Facebook employees can choose where to work. This comes within days of other leading Tech companies making similar announcements. Twitter offered its employees to work from home forever while Salesforce employees can continue to work from home until the end of the year.
Work from home is the ‘new normal’ of the post COVID-19 economy many have forecast.
We’re shifting to remote work ourselves – many people can now choose where they do their best work – while we continue to lay the technical foundation for a more flexible, and fair, future of work for all.
Aiming to be the remote work platform of the future with Workplace, Oculus and Portal
The social media network shared its view of the future of work where employees can remotely work using virtual workspaces. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he sees about 50% of the workforce working remotely.
In a blog post, the company revealed Oculus (its VR headset) and Portal, its video screen device will be part of the future-ready collaborative platform of work.
Workplace already has 5 million paid users, up 2 million since October.
Work Groups, a type of Facebook Group that helps people connect with their coworkers, has over 20 million monthly active users after just six months.
Facebook introduced new video features in Workplace adding features to Workplace on Portal, and widely releasing Oculus for Business to meet early demand for VR-powered training and collaboration. Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014.
Workplace Rooms: Make Video Calling Less Work
Workplace Rooms is Facebook’s secure and easy way for coworkers to get things done and stay connected when they can’t be together in person.
It is Facebook’s space with unlimited time, where you can invite up to 50 people to a video call even if they’re not in your company or don’t have a Workplace account, revealed Facebook.
When you create a room, you can lock it to prevent others from joining, keep it open for more spontaneous hangouts, or remove participants who shouldn’t be on the call. For security, a new link is generated every time you create a room, and links cannot be used again once they have expired.
VR Oculus for Business
Facebook stated in the blog post “In the year since we launched Oculus Quest, demand for VR has grown, not just for entertainment, but also immersive professional training and virtual meetings”.
- Sales folks at Nestle Purina are using VR to visualize retail displays and gather sales teams while reducing travel.
- Johnson & Johnson Institute is training surgeons with Oculus and helping improve patient outcomes.
- Employees at Hilton are using interactive simulations to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities of hotel operations.
Facebook said “Now we’re making it easier for more companies to use the power of VR to improve business results.
The Oculus for Business platform, which provides software to set up and manage VR deployments, tailored in-headset experience and enterprise-grade customer support, is now generally available.
