The traditional 9-to-5 workday is “dead,” according to an article published by Salesforce.com Inc. today, as the company announced drastic changes to how its workers will fill their days going forward.

The company said that early on during the pandemic and the attendant lockdowns it surveyed staff to see how they were getting along working from home. The upshot of that was that nearly half of Salesforce employees want to go into the office just a few times each month, although most employees want to keep a connection with a physical space.

“As we enter a new year, we must continue to go forward with agility, creativity and a beginner’s mind — and that includes how we cultivate our culture,” Salesforce said in the article. “An immersive workspace is no longer limited to a desk in our Towers; the 9-to-5 workday is dead; and the employee experience is about more than ping-pong tables and snacks.”

The company said it has come up with a solution: flexibility. Even after the pandemic ends, Salesforce will offer its staff three different options regarding how they work. One of those will be “Flex.” That will entail workers going to the office one to three days per week for meetings, collaboration and the like. Salesforce said that’s how most of its 49,000 global employees will work.

The next option will be “Fully Remote,” although that will be available only to people who really don’t require the office structure or live far away from an office. The last option will be “Office-based,” meaning those employees will work four to five days a week in an office. Somewhat surprisingly, Salesforce said that will be the smallest population of its workforce.

“This work-from-anywhere model will unlock new growth opportunities that will help us drive greater equality,” said the company. “Our talent strategy is no longer bound by barriers like location, so we can broaden our search beyond traditional city centers and welcome untapped talent from new communities and geographies.” On top of that, Salesforce said, this will make life much easier for people with kids or anyone who has to take care of a sick person.

The company added that the traditional office hours in this connected world “no longer makes sense.” Even when employees do return, the offices they see will be designed for what the company calls a “hybrid workstyle.” That will mean fewer desks and kiosks and more open spaces where people can collaborate.

“This isn’t just the future of work, this is the next evolution of our culture,” the article concluded. Companies such as Facebook Inc. Google LLC and Microsoft Corp. have already said that some employees may never return to the office full-time after the pandemic, with other companies expected to follow this model.

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