By Michelle Fox -
CNBC + Acorns
Millions of Americans are leaving their jobs and rethinking what they want to do in work life to balance it with other areas of life like spending time with family.
Companies are taking this into account, meeting the needs of their employees in areas such as the possibility of remote work, flexible hours, four-day workweeks, compensation and much more.
For Sevdha Thompson, the workday can be very different from week to week or month to month.
One week you might be working outdoors in the Jamaican sun, and another you might be in an Airbnb apartment overlooking the Costa Rican rainforest.
Sevdha Thompson, digital marketing producer at Coalition Technologies, spent a few weeks working in Costa Rica last year.Sevdha Thompson via CNBC
As a digital marketing producer at
Coalition Technologies
, which handles digital marketing and web design, you can work remotely from anywhere in the world.
"I love to travel. I have family in many different places," he says.
"Having that flexibility to be able to spend time with people who are very dear to you, in different parts of the world, is hugely important."
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Thompson, who is currently based in Orlando, Florida, was living in Los Angeles when she was hired by Coalition Technologies in July 2020. She later moved to Kingston, Jamaica, to be closer to her family during the pandemic.
Although she considers the Caribbean island her permanent hometown, she has also spent time in New Orleans, Atlanta, Panama, Texas and Oklahoma.
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Last year he visited Costa Rica for three weeks, touring the country and visiting several tropical jungles.
The company's flexibility with respect to schedules helped him a lot, since he was able to modify the hours in which he connected.
“I was able to delve into many facets of the country and the culture that would otherwise be out of reach for the regular tourist,” says Thompson, who is in her early 30s and traveling with her fiancé.
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"I got more local experience in a lot of these areas because I had more time and flexibility to do it."
She has also traveled to take jobs as a professional Bollywood and belly dancer, her side job.
When she chooses a place to stay in every place she goes, she makes sure she has a good internet connection.
She has also worked on the road, from vehicles, in an airport lounge and on a ship.
Although some US-based employees, like Thompson, have used the remote work policy to travel, others simply work from home.
Today, Coalition Technologies' more than 250 people are spread across the globe, from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to India, Germany, and South Africa.
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The tech company's policy grew out of a need to compete with larger companies for talent, said Chairman Jordan Brannon.
Founded in 2009, Coalition Technologies has been prioritizing remote work for nearly a decade, a decision largely driven by traffic in Los Angeles, where the company was based.
As other big tech companies moved into the area, dubbed Silicon Beach, Brannon and his team had to start looking for workers in other cities, states and countries.
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"When we're up against
well-funded, venture-backed and publicly traded companies and
startups
, we need to be able to source talent in a way that allows us to continue to grow without necessarily having a short-term profit goal for shareholders. Brannon assured.
Sevdha Thompson, in a photo with her father in Jamaica. Sevdha Thompson via CNBC
To be sure, remote jobs are rare, according to the careers website FlexJobs.
About 95% of remote jobs require employees to be located in a specific place, according to this website.
Geographic requirements can be concentrated in the state, city, and country.
There are legal and tax issues to consider, as well as time differences and the ability to be available for in-person meetings with co-workers and clients.
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Multiple time zones is one of the biggest challenges Coalition Technologies faces, says Brannon.
Most customers are in the Eastern Time Zone of the United States, so some workers' schedules have to change.
They also use a common calendar where employees can synchronize schedules and coordinate meetings.
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The management team also deals with legal, tax and financial issues arising from the various workplaces.
For example, there are regional compensation adjustments based on the cost of living in a particular area, but there is also the possibility of additional compensation based on team performance.
Still, the tradeoff is worth it, says Brannon.
Not only does it help the company compete for workers, but the employees are happy.
It also allows Coalition Technologies to bring more talented people to client accounts and projects, and to staff quickly, since there is a large pool of candidates to choose from, he noted.
"This is something we've been committed to for a decade and we have no reason to change," he said.
Thompson hopes to make America his home again, though he doesn't know exactly where he will land.
For now, she will stay in Jamaica, where she can help her family and continue her travels.
"All those little things mean a lot," he said.
"These are unparalleled ways to spend time that you otherwise wouldn't be able to if you were in a more rigid work structure."
This article is part of the
Invest in You Ready series.
Set.
Grow
(Invest in you: Ready. Ready. Grow), an initiative of CNBC and Acorns, the micro-investing app.
NBC Universal and Comcast Ventures are investors in
Acorns
.