At Automattic, the company behind blog-creating tool WordPress, there are 470 employees distributed across 45 countries, and work practices have evolved to suit the business. Staff work where they want, communicating via blogs and Slack, the chat tool, rather than email. They travel to team or company meetings three to four weeks a year. Like Netflix and a growing list of other companies, Automattic has an open vacation policy with no set number of days.

Such a set-up is not for those who crave structure, and a corporate document for employees at Automattic admits that recruits may feel they encounter “chaos” working remotely with colleagues around the globe. But employee benefits include sabbaticals and allowances for home offices, mixing desirable aspects of workplace and home-based practices.

Agile, or smart, working policies are far from being the preserve of young tech companies though. “The ability for people to work in different ways through technology has encouraged some employers to think more creatively about the way we employ people?.?.?.?and that maybe work doesn’t naturally occur in 35-40 hour weeks,” says Clare Kelliher, professor of work and organisation at the UK’s Cranfield University School of Management.