Zillow uses CloudHQ remote work model to boost talent, cuts costs
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — While many companies are encouraging employees to return to the office, real estate giant Zillow is intensifying its remote-first strategy.
“Remote work isn’t a perk, it’s a business strategy,” says Dan Spaulding, Zillow’s chief people officer, describing the company’s CloudHQ model.
This approach treats the company’s headquarters as a digital entity, not a physical space, allowing employees to work from anywhere—whether at home, in an office, or a mix of both.
Spaulding notes that this shift was not just a reaction to the pandemic but a deliberate strategy. “It’s an intentional strategy of everything we do starts in the cloud,” he said.
“It’s going to be documented, it’s going to be written down, it’s going to be clear for our employees to follow.” He added that having to document everything so employees “know the rules of the road” has been “really transformative on our culture.”
Balancing flexibility and connection
Despite its digital-first ethos, Zillow hasn’t abandoned in-person interaction. The company maintains six offices across the U.S. and organizes “Z-retreats,” scheduled gatherings for team-building and collaboration.
Details of these events are shared on a “cruise calendar,” making it transparent for all employees when and why groups are meeting.
“Making that transparent to the company really gives our employees the ability to understand what’s happening outside of the virtual world that they work in on a daily basis,” Spaulding explained.
This approach has allowed Zillow to reduce real estate costs while expanding its talent pool. Since adopting CloudHQ, job applications have quadrupled, and the company has seen a 5% increase in female employees, likely due to the appeal of flexible work arrangements.
Industry divides and lessons for leaders
Not every company is following Zillow’s lead. Capitolis, a financial technology firm, requires employees to work full-time in its New York and London offices.
CEO Gil Mandelzis acknowledges the policy’s drawbacks, saying, “We lose many candidates because of our policy, and we are okay with that. The smartest superstar in the world working remote is less valuable to me than someone I can talk to on my way to the office kitchen.”
Meanwhile, former Google Canada managing director Chris O’Neill, now CEO of GrowthLoop, has embraced remote-first leadership. “Remote work has surprised me in ways I didn’t anticipate,” he wrote, citing access to global talent and a results-driven culture as key benefits.
Experts caution that simply setting a policy isn’t enough. “Setting a policy is not a strategy,” said Brooke Weddle of McKinsey.
“The next step is creating a set of guardrails around how you want to implement that policy.” She warns that poorly executed return-to-office mandates can fail to foster meaningful collaboration.
