{"id":161906,"date":"2020-08-12T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T17:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=161906"},"modified":"2020-09-24T07:29:21","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T14:29:21","slug":"evolving-the-future-of-headquarters-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/rei-news\/evolving-the-future-of-headquarters-work","title":{"rendered":"Evolving the Future of Headquarters Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, August 12, REI Co-op President and CEO Eric Artz shared the following news with REI employees.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

The essence of being a co-op is that we see our work, our business and our purpose differently. We exist to create meaningful and positive impact for the outdoors and for our community. And we have the courage to take the uncommon path to get there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I\u2019m making an announcement in that spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We have made the decision\u00a0to\u00a0pursue a sale of\u00a0our buildings and land in\u00a0Bellevue\u2019s\u00a0Spring District\u2014and, with that sale, to step toward\u00a0a new model for our headquarters that\u00a0will\u00a0better\u00a0serve\u00a0the way we live, work and act as a force for positive change.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0dramatic events\u00a0of 2020 have challenged us to reexamine and rethink every aspect of our business and many of the assumptions of the past.\u00a0That includes\u00a0where and how we work.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been expanding our\u00a0mobile work\u00a0capabilities for the past\u00a0several years\u00a0in\u00a0preparation for our planned headquarters move. Our progress was accelerated\u00a0by\u00a0the COVID-19 pandemic\u2014we learned that\u00a0the\u00a0more\u00a0distributed way of working we previously thought\u00a0untenable\u00a0will\u00a0instead\u00a0unlock incredible potential.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0a result, our\u00a0new\u00a0experience\u00a0of \u201cheadquarters\u201d\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0very different than the one we imagined\u00a0more than four\u00a0years ago.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than a single location, our \u201cheadquarters\u201d will span\u00a0multiple\u00a0satellites\u00a0across the\u00a0greater\u00a0Seattle area<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remote\u00a0working will move from a temporary\u00a0solve\u00a0to a more engrained, supported, and normalized model<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0many\u00a0of our headquarters employees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And\u00a0while\u00a0our home will remain in Seattle,\u00a0it will be more feasible for more\u00a0of our headquarters employees\u00a0to\u00a0have the flexibility to live\u00a0and work\u00a0outside of the Puget Sound region<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This will have immediate, positive\u00a0impacts on our ability to attract and retain\u00a0a diverse and highly skilled workforce, as we continue to navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and\u00a0beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our\u00a0members, our business, and\u00a0our\u00a0positive impact on\u00a0society will\u00a0also\u00a0benefit from this transaction.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sale of our property\u00a0would bring\u00a0a\u00a0positive return\u00a0on our investment\u2014and with it the ability to invest\u00a0a portion of\u00a0that unlocked\u00a0capital\u00a0in ways that align with our strategic vision and our\u00a0four measures of success\u2014our impact on\u00a0our employees, our members, our business and society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These dollars would also play an important role in stabilizing our business through the ongoing impacts of current disruptions. As we\u2019ve discussed, we\u2019re outperforming our initial\u00a0revenue\u00a0expectations for how we would manage through COVID-19, but the pandemic is far from over, and it\u2019s important and prudent that we make sure the co-op is prepared for the near-certainty of additional disruptions ahead.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The rapid innovation we\u2019ve done in response to the COVID-19\u00a0crisis has been inspiring, but it\u2019s also made clear the areas where\u00a0we\u00a0have opportunities to improve and to better meet our customers\u2019 changing needs and expectations\u00a0across our offerings and our omnichannel\u00a0capabilities.\u00a0We have important work to do in this space and this sale\u00a0would\u00a0provide financial security to\u00a0help accelerate\u00a0those efforts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that REI\u2019s financial stability\u00a0has a direct impact on our ability to\u00a0continue to\u00a0support our nonprofit partners, whose work to connect people of all races, genders, ages and abilities to the outdoors matters now more than ever.\u00a0The\u00a0proceeds from\u00a0a\u00a0sale\u00a0would\u00a0also help us\u00a0accelerate\u00a0progress toward\u00a0reducing\u00a0our carbon\u00a0footprint.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be providing more detail on all of this in the coming weeks and months,\u00a0but here are the important things for you to hear and take away:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n