Brazilian major Vale has permanently adopted a more flexible working model for its employees that combines remote work and the use of collaborative spaces.

The ‘flexible office’ model prioritises the wellbeing and safety of its employees, the diversified mining company said on Tuesday, noting that the pandemic had accelerated changes already under way in the company.

In March, when Covid-19 first swept through countries across the globe, Vale placed all eligible functions – administrative and operational support – in home office. Based on the successful experience in this model, Vale had now decided to adopt remote work on a large scale and globally.

The company explained that it would implement the flexible office format, based on a management tripod with on-site (fixed positions in operations), off-site (remote work) and near-site (collaborative hubs) modalities. The flexible model would allow employees to switch between remote work and face-to-face meetings at hubs, or even restricted and planned visits to operations. Only operational functions would follow on-site to ensure business continuity with complete security.

"When we were surprised by the pandemic, we saw that we were already prepared to carry out part of our activities remotely. We conducted an internal survey and the result showed that more than 75% of respondents feel productive working in the home office. For us, this was already a sign that we are on the right path,” said executive manger and leader of the Vale Journey programme, Josilda Saad.  

The group’s collaborative humbs would be close to its operational units. The hubs would be safe environments for team engagement, development and training, with flexible desks and meeting rooms adapted for integration and collaboration areas.

"We are transforming our current offices into hubs and we expect to start making them available in March 2021,” said Josilda.

In Brazil, besides the existing spaces, there would be seven new hubs distributed in the states of Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Maranhão and Pará. Abroad, there will be at least ten hubs in countries like Canada, Oman, Indonesia and China.