Cameo wants workers back in the office more often, and it\u2019s paying them each $10,000 to show up.<\/p>\n
Starting this week, workers at the celebrity video-greeting app are reporting into the company\u2019s Chicago headquarters Monday through Thursday. In exchange, the roughly two dozen eligible employees can expect a $10,000 annual raise, free lunch, free parking and access to an onsite gym.<\/p>\n
\u2033\u2018Roll out the red carpet\u2019 is our first corporate value, and we really felt like we wanted to make HQ a perk, not a punishment,\u201d Cameo CEO Steven Galanis tells CNBC Make It. \u201cWe know we\u2019re asking more out of you to give up the flexibility, and we wanted to compensate you for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many workers say they\u2019d take a pay cut to be able to keep working from home. Cameo is hoping the inverse will be true.<\/p>\n
Galanis and his leadership team landed on a $10,000 annual raise because the sum is \u201cmeaningful for everybody,\u201d especially junior employees: \u201cThat might be the difference between them being able to get an apartment in the city or having to take the train because they live with their parents in the suburbs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameo currently has 50 employees, including 26 in Chicago and others around the U.S. and internationally, though most remote workers are concentrated in New York and Los Angeles. The new benefit doesn\u2019t apply to workers outside of Chicago, though \u201cif they wanted to move to Chicagoland, we would give them a [relocation benefit] and they\u2019d be eligible,\u201d Galanis says.<\/p>\n
Cameo\u2019s Chicago headquarters opened during the summer of 2024, but leaders never set a schedule of when they expected employees to be in. Without it, workers generally reported to the office two to three times in the middle of the week, Galanis says.<\/p>\n
The new four-day policy was announced to staff a month ago. Galanis is reluctant to call it a mandate but says \u201cthere wasn\u2019t an ability to opt out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you live in Chicagoland, you are four days a week in-office \u2014 there wasn\u2019t an option on that. And in exchange, we give you a $10,000 raise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you wanted to move, you could do that\u201d and not be subject to the in-office expectation, Galanis says.<\/p>\n
Galanis says none of Cameo\u2019s employees quit the company or moved away from Chicago following the policy announcement. A few outside of Chicago have indicated possibly moving closer to headquarters given the new perks.<\/p>\n
Remote workers can also take part in Cameo\u2019s Team Week, launched this summer, where they can be flown to Chicago once a month for a defined week when \u201ceverybody\u2019s in,\u201d Galanis says. Since the company covers flights, accommodations and some meals, he says, \u201cif you take advantage of that every month, it\u2019s effectively the same thing as the raise that the Chicagoland folks got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Galanis says he\u2019d be in the office five days a week if he could, but recognizes workers have come to appreciate the \u201cflexibility that our employees have earned.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping Friday can be a flex day,\u201d he says, where workers can take care of doctor\u2019s appointments and other personal needs.<\/p>\n
Leaders won\u2019t be tracking attendance. \u201cWe\u2019re adults here,\u201d Galanis says, noting that workers who need to step out for personal matters like appointments should just let their manager know ahead of time.<\/p>\n
Galanis is hopeful the move will re-energize creativity and speed at the company, and that staff see he\u2019s accessible as a CEO. \u201cNow they see me every day,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re walking around, we\u2019re having lunch together. Some intern can come in and say, \u2018Steven, why haven\u2019t we ever done this before?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Ultimately, \u201cwhat we\u2019re really trying to do is maximize the amount of in-person time that our team is getting with each other, and to make sure that we\u2019re able to move at the speed of pop culture,\u201d Galanis says.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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