Over the last several years, the tiny house trend has had its ups and downs. But whatever your thoughts about living in a micro dwelling, you probably haven’t considered working in one. That is, unless you’re one of the employees of a certain property management company in Missouri — where the owner built each of his employees their own tiny home inside his company’s open-space headquarters.
It’s easy to understand why. In this post-pandemic moment, when many employees have now experienced the benefits of working from home, a lot of people want to remain there. You can blast your music or take a power nap in the middle of the day. You can eat a tuna-on-rye at your desk without offending your coworkers’ olfactory senses. And that’s not to mention the money saved by working remotely. But while a lot of bosses want their employees to be happy, they have their own reasons for wanting them back in the office: productivity, accountability, mentoring opportunities and the exchange of ideas. What’s the solution?
In this case, it’s tiny houses. Instead of hallways and cubicles, the employees at this company have houses, sidewalks, park benches and fake trees. They have privacy in their individual “homes,” but they are literally right next door to their coworkers for meetings and brainstorming sessions.
When a company employee and TikTok user named Kylie shared a video of her new digs (musically accompanied by the “Wicked” lyrics, “You’re Going To Be Popular”), the reaction from delighted viewers was swift: They wanted a tour of the whole “neighborhood.” Kylie got permission and obliged, showing off the various homes — and more than 39 million people have watched the video:
@itskylie94 #tinyhouse #tinyhome #office #officelife #workfromhome #boss #lovemyjob ⬠Popular – From “Wicked” Original Broadway Cast Recording/2003 – Kristin Chenoweth
The owner built each tiny house with the occupant’s personality in mind. His wife, who’s an employee at the company, got a pink, castle-like structure. Kylie also showed the inside of her house, which came with a desk and a filing cabinet, but it also had some big, pretty windows and a flat-screen TV.
The boss added other amenities to the tiny home neighborhood, too. In another video, she shows the tiny homes’ mailboxes:
@itskylie94 #missouri #tinyhouse #officelife #tinyhome #mail #sad #sadday ⬠Surrender – Natalie Taylor
And apparently, the “park” connecting the homes has a fountain:
@itskylie94 Replying to @sherilynn783 #tinyhouse #tinyhome #office #relaxing ⬠original sound – Kylie
And for those who need their mid-day power naps, he even provided hammocks! For these workers, anyway, going back to the office just got a lot more attractive.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
