Revolut, the $5.5 billion fintech startup, says it will let its 2,000 staff work abroad for 60 days a year

• UK fintech Revolut, valued at $5.5 billion, plans to let its more than 2,000 staff work overseas for up to 60 days a year.
• The policy, announced Thursday, follows demand from staff to work abroad, and is due to roll out once travel restrictions lift.
• In a survey, Revolut staff said working from home hadn't reduced their productivity.

Staff at UK fintech Revolut, one of Europe's biggest startups, will soon be able to work abroad for up to two months each year, the company said Thursday.

The policy would apply to all of the company's more than 2,000 employees, it said.

"Revolut staff members who wish to work outside their country of employment for personal and non-business related reasons, will be able to do so for a period of up to 60 calendar days over a rolling 12 months," Revolut said in a statement shared with Insider. Bloomberg first reported on the news.

The policy was set to start once COVID-19 travel restrictions are eased, and would comply with guidelines from national health authorities, Revolut said.

Read more: If you want to ask your boss to let you work from home forever, use this script

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Revolut, which was valued at $5.5 billion last year, making it the UK's most valuable fintech, said it designed the policy following requests from staff who wanted to visit family abroad.

"Our employees asked for flexibility and that's what we're giving them," Jim MacDougall, Revolut's VP of people, said in the statement. Revolut has faced criticism for the way it treats its staff. A 2019 Wired report into the company's work culture found high staff turnover and burnout among workers. Some applicants were also asked to work for free, according to the report. Revolut declined to comment at the time on specific points in the report, but said its "culture is evolving as rapidly as our business."

In February, Revolut piloted a hybrid working model that let staff choose between working from home and in the office, and said it was repurposing all its offices as flexible collaborative spaces.

After a survey of its staff, Revolut said more than one-third wanted an entirely remote job, and just over half wanted to work from home between two and four days a week. Just 2% of staff said they would like to return to the office full-time.

It added that 95% of respondents said that working from home either didn't impact their personal productivity or had a positive impact on it, while the figure was 89% for team collaboration.

There is growing momentum for companies to let employees work from home permanently, leading to some companies canceling office leases.

Google is taking the opposite approach: In March, the tech giant announced plans to invest $7 billion in US offices and data centers, including new offices in Houston, Texas, and Portland, Oregon.

As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout ramps up across the US, some companies are considering making vaccinations mandatory for staff, which the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says they're within their rights to do.