Workforce logistics platform developer Gable has announced the successful raising of $16 million in funding co-led by SemperVirens and Foundation Capital, with participation from Tishman Speyer Ventures, Ulu Ventures and January Ventures.
A significant shift in the way people work has been observed over the past three years, with 98 million workers in the United States now enjoying the option to work remotely, according to a study carried out by McKinsey & Co. A study by Deloitte has also found that a hefty 77% of respondents said their decision to switch jobs was driven by a desire for greater workplace flexibility.However, this new way of working is not without its challenges, as an increasing number of employees report feeling disconnected, disengaged, and burnt out.
“Most employees want flexibility, but they also want the ability to meet with coworkers and connect,” said Liza Mash Levin, co-founder, and CEO of Gable. “Meanwhile, companies find it hard to provide workspaces across locations, stay on top of budgets, and have insight into how the spaces are being utilized.”
What does this mean for the modern workplace?
Gable aims to address that issue by helping distributed companies manage office space for their workforces. Using the company’s portal, employees can see where their coworkers are working that day and book a desk alongside them while Gable manages budgets and monitors employee satisfaction.
The company enables employees to search and book from thousands of available workspaces within a predetermined budget. The custom portal allows anyone from the team to invite others to join them at any location, and for employees to see where the others are working.
Companies using Gable have seen employees’ interest in coming into the office jump by 75%. Just-released features extend the ability to reserve and manage events and book a desk at the company’s permanent offices.
Since the company’s launch in 2020, Gable has enabled more than 50 companies to optimize their remote work and workforce logistics. According to the firm, employees using the platform have reported a four-to-five times increase in productivity, collaboration and satisfaction.
“Figuring out if, when, and how people need to come together is a layered cake of operational questions around employee retention, productivity, and real estate costs,” said Lauri Moore, partner at Foundation Capital. “Gable is not only building the platform — Liza, Omri, and the team are leading the community for the new world of hybrid work.”
Many industry experts agree that following the forced adoption of the model at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, remote and hybrid work models aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“Hybrid work is working very well and there is no turning back. Employers who are forcing their people to come back to the office will lose the battle,” HiBob CEO and co-founder Ronni Zehavi told The Jerusalem Post. “You cannot force it. The train left the station. This is a practice for the new era, for who knows how long.”