Those who qualify for the ‘Work Away’ scheme can request to work from "any location that meets GoCardless standards for safety, security and privacy", creating an opportunity for staff to pack their bags and head off to an approved overseas destination.

Revolut introduced a similar policy last month, in which employees could spend 60 days in any given year working from an international location.

The GoCardless Work Away policy forms part of ‘Adaptive Working’, a new model for the post-pandemic workforce which incorporates feedback from a company-wide survey of staff. Employees felt that work/life balance was the area which most benefited from remote workingt (chosen by 66% of respondents). This was followed by cost of living (51%) and productivity (39%).

Looking ahead, nearly two-thirds of employees indicated they would prefer to go to the office one to three days per week. About half said they would use remote working to ‘work anywhere in the world’.

GoCardless has created a new senior role, head of workplace, to lead the rollout of Adaptive Working and appointed from WeWork and CBRE executive Lloyd Lasade to fill the position. He will initially be responsible for reopening all six GoCardless offices around the world.

Eva Ducruezet, chief people officer at GoCardless, says: “The pandemic dramatically changed everyone’s idea of ‘the workplace’. But while lots of businesses are solving for their post-pandemic working model, most see it as a one-off exercise, namely ‘how do we reopen the office?’

“The approach we’re taking moves beyond that. It’s treating the workplace as a product or a service that we provide employees. How do we constantly evolve it so that we ensure our employees are set up for success, wherever they work? By taking that mentality, the workplace becomes a strategic asset and a source of competitive advantage.”