Welcome to the Office. Now Take Off Your Shoes.
People entering a house party might expect to see a rack overflowing with shoes by the door. Lately, people entering some startup offices in the US might, too. The “no shoes” trend is spreading in tech offices, with buzzy startups telling employees to leave their Vans and Uggs at the door. Some cover their offices with soft rugs, or offer free slippers. The website noshoes.fun, by Ben Lang, an employee at the shoes-off startup Cursor, lists a dozen-plus startups with such an approach, including several artificial intelligence firms like Replo and Composite.
“I’ve only worked at startups that have a no-shoes in office policy,” Lang said on social media in Aug.
Workers at Spur, which uses AI to check websites for bugs, don branded slides upon arrival at their office in Manhattan, and guests are asked to do the same, said Sneha Sivakumar, a co-founder and the CEO. The no-shoes policy, she said, “makes it feel like a second home” for her 10 employees.
Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist who studies work culture, said the shoes-off trend was partly “the pajama economy in action.” That is, now that people who worked from home during the pandemic are back in the office, they are bringing their home habits with them.
“I’ve only worked at startups that have a no-shoes in office policy,” Lang said on social media in Aug.
Workers at Spur, which uses AI to check websites for bugs, don branded slides upon arrival at their office in Manhattan, and guests are asked to do the same, said Sneha Sivakumar, a co-founder and the CEO. The no-shoes policy, she said, “makes it feel like a second home” for her 10 employees.
Nick Bloom, a Stanford economist who studies work culture, said the shoes-off trend was partly “the pajama economy in action.” That is, now that people who worked from home during the pandemic are back in the office, they are bringing their home habits with them.
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