By Mehnaz Yasmin and Niket Nishant
(Reuters) - Online trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) said on Wednesday it plans to move a majority of its 3,400 employees to remote work permanently, joining a slew of top tech firms embracing a hybrid culture.
The California-based company's move to adopt a 'remote first' approach, the plans for which were first shared with employees in December, will help create an accessible workplace, it said in a statement.
"Being able to go primarily remote really means that now we can recruit and attract talent from almost anywhere," said Cynthia Owyoung, vice president of equity, inclusion and belonging at Robinhood.
Robinhood said some teams will need to live within a commutable distance to an office location due to regulatory and business reasons, and a small segment will still need to work from the office. It expects no change in the compensation structure of its staff.
Tech giants such as Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) opted for flexible working policies early on during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uncertainty around the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant has also pushed several big U.S. companies, including JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), to delay their back-to-office plans.
Founded in 2013, Robinhood's popularity exploded among retail investors early in the pandemic due to its easy-to-use interface and commission-free trades. It was also instrumental in fueling last year's "meme" stock frenzy, although technical glitches and a temporary restriction on trading securities of GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) in January 2021 embittered some of its users.