Smartworking in Stockholm: Patrick Balestra's experience

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Alumni Service

22 May 2020

Several regional and national media have told the story of Patrick Balestra, from Ticino, who at the age of 17 was selected by Apple's talent scouts for a resident study and at the age of 21, at the end of his Bachelor's degree in computer science at USI, he was hired by Spotify and left for Sweden, where he is now a Senior Engineer developing applications for mobile devices. How is the job routine in the current situation for a company as international as Spotify, with offices all over the world? Patrick from Stockholm tells us.

It was very quick for a tech company such as Spotify to organise teleworking for all of its employees. "We have offices all over the world, so working with others on remote was already very common and standardised," explains Patrick. Each country is dealing with the health emergency in a different way and the challenge for Spotify is to manage and coordinate employees in different parts of the world, trying to keep employees connected and on the same page. Sweden in particular has reacted with fewer restrictions than other countries: "The government has decided not to impose a lockout. Of course, most companies are completely isolated, but shops, bars and restaurants are mostly still open, even if you see few people on city streets" explains Patrick.

How has the work routine changed from home? "We remain very productive even by working remotely and have moved many of our events online. We're trying new tools to collaborate better, like pair programming sessions," Patrick says. Spotify pays a lot of attention to employee interaction, creating an environment that combines work and leisure in the best possible way. "Although we all have been fully operational from home, I miss social events and interactions with colleagues in the office, such as team fikas (Swedish term for coffee breaks), karaoke sessions or ping pong challenges," Patrick concludes.