First Company in the Czech Republic Gets Rid of Fixed Working Hours

Ondřej Vlček, CEO of Avast and one of the wealthiest Czech businessmen, has taken the lead in introducing new models of working, that could revolutionize the way companies work in the future.

Avast has not only successfully kept afloat during the Covid-19 crisis, but they have also actually drawn inspiration and adapted exceptionally to the new troubling circumstances.

Decisive changes in Avast were made as early as September 2020 last year, when the antivirus giant chose to give their employees the possibility of working at home permanently if they wanted to.

This year, Avast has decided to provide two models of work for their employees: the conventional ‘Work from the Office’ model, and the ‘Work from Anywhere’ model.

The ‘Work from the Office’ model lets employees spend most of their time in the office, or they can also just visit the office for meetings and if it’s necessary.

The latter model, ‘Work from Anywhere’, which is a concept that was solidified because of the pandemic, allows Avast’s employees to work from their homes, cafés, or practically anywhere that suits their interests. This new model of work that has inevitably emerged because of the Coronavirus and its global restrictions, has fundamentally introduced a sort of ‘endless vacation’ for employees all over the world since they don’t need to commute or be obliged to work in one specific location every day.

The CEO of the largest antivirus company in the world – with about two thousand employees – has decided to cancel fixed working hours. “We’ve verified that this model is working and employees are happier,” adding that they are able to better organize their free time or move wherever they want.

However, it is not just the style of working that is changing during the crisis, work environments and spaces are evidently being shapeshifted to fit the newer concepts.

Avast, for example, has embraced the concept of having their workplaces flexible and diverse. They want to suit the spaces to their employees’ needs, according to Vlček. Avast has prepared workspaces for focus and concentration, workspaces for teamwork, and spaces for rest and conversation.

Successful navigation through the pandemic is evidently seen in the company’s net profit, which grew by 14.5% to 3.8 billion CZK during the first half of the year 2020.

“Avast demonstrated considerable resilience in its business during the outbreak of the pandemic. Our overall operating and financial performance were strong, supported by the trend of working from home, which led to increased consumer activity on the Internet,” said Vlček.

Moreover, Avast has decided to offer all their employees a share of the profits, in the form of ‘limited rights shares’ (RSU), since they believe that this will boost and enhance the employees’ work quality.