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Comment by Androider | Hacker News Reader

HN remote workers, does your company pay for your use of a coworking space? Or even fully manage it?

I've noticed that companies I admire greatly like Basecamp, and also in yesterday's Who's Hiring thread, that they list a $200-$300 monthly stipend towards coworking space fees as an employee perk. That doesn't seem quite enough to fully cover a coworking space in NY or SF. I'm tasked with building a remote engineering workforce myself in our business, and was initially thinking that we as the company will be the ones setting up the contracts with WeWorks etc. But perhaps you as an employee would actually prefer to be in control of that?

Are there companies that are fully remote but don't contribute anything towards coworking? If you're in that situation, what do you think of it?

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Yes, my company (GitLab) fully reimburses me for the coworking space I rent. They don't manage it for me - I just submit the rent as an expense each month.

More details on GitLab's coworking space policy here: https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/spending-company-money/. (Search the page for "Office space".)

No. I work for a fully remote company, and we decided that individuals within the company could pay for working a coworking space if they wanted, but giving them a stipend for doing so created a benefit for those employees that didn't exist for employees that optimized their home office for remote work. Personally I am in favor of more pay for every employee across the board at an organization rather than trying to come up with lots of extra benefits to take advantage of to collect more money.

I think that some kind stipend for office/equipment/etc does make sense for companies that have remote and in-office employees, but feel that it should be a set amount and not tied to actual usage, as I feel that in those cases, the company is getting a clear benefit from the worker being remote, in not having to provide them with space in the office.

Tacking the would-be stipend onto base pay can remove the feeling of the benefit being provided at all.

e.g.

A: You get a salary and we also cover your gym membership

B: Your salary of $100k already includes a baked-in $50 a month for a gym

That said, definitely agree the stipend shouldn't only be for employees who choose a coworking space. Provide $X for either office space, or home internet & office expenses

I hire people who work remote, I pay for co-working space at a mutually agreeable co-working location for everyone who wants it.

People who work from home, we buy the equipment they need. Laptop, nice chair, whatever.

Same. You can standardise equipment allowances but you can't standardise co-working costs, especially if you have international workers. Wework cost us roughly USD 700 per head in Sydney, USD 500 in London and USD 300 in Madrid.

Mozilla will either outfit your home office and pay your ISP bill or pay $350 a month towards a coworking space.

I work remote for Tanium, and they do not cover the cost of a co-working space, but they do reimburse me for my cellphone and home internet.

Previous company no, current company yes. I much prefer it even if I don't go in every week.

Yes, that seems to be pretty much industry standard for remote full time employee.

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