SELINSGROVE — When Lighting New York was lauded by Newsweek in 2019 for providing the best customer service in the U.S., employees at the online home goods retail firm based in Selinsgrove were working in a spacious, creatively supportive office atmosphere where enormous “fathead” photos of managers hung from the rafters.A year later, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and all Lighting New York workers were sent home for what company CEO Derek Kloostra expected would be a few weeks at most.Today, three years after the onset of the global pandemic, the office at 78 Universal Road remains largely empty. The fathead posters have been taken down and lie in a stack on an unused desk and new telephones purchased just before the health crisis began were only recently boxed up, never having been installed.Prior to the pandemic, less than 15 percent of Lighting New York’s 60 employees worked remotely. Today about 45 percent of the 66 team members work in 12 other states across the nation, including Arizona, Texas and Maine, and only a handful of local staff are in the office a few days a week.“I make a point to get in two days a week for my mental health,” said web developer Cody Kratzer, who has been with the company since 2009.About 41 percent of Americans are working a hybrid model, some days at home and others in the office, while about one-third of U.S. employees are choosing to work remotely all the time, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey which found that 59 percent of remote workers typically spend three or more days each week at home.“When we first went home my productivity went up and it was great,” Kratzer said. “After a year, I kind of missed seeing people during the day. Some thrive on it, but a hybrid approach works best for me.”He and a few other company web developers have managed to keep the playful office vibe alive by having occasional Nerf gun battles. To ensure the full team — which includes web developers working in Texas and New York — works collaboratively, they speak daily and hold regular Zoom meetings.“We call it the mullet,” Kratzer said of the monthly video meetings which begin with serious work talk and end with lunch and casual conversation. “It’s business up front and party in the back.”As the global pandemic wore on and millions of people were working from home, the need for better lighting and other household products meant Lighting New York’s products were in demand.“We had to hire across all departments,” said Kloostra who realized that he could be more selective by hiring the most talented workers from across the country to work in customer care, marketing, web development and sales regardless of their location.One of those hires was Tom Johnston, a performance marketing manager from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Before COVID, Johnston was working in party supplies sales and was driving his young daughter to school each day before heading to the office.“I had to commute 45 minutes to work and my daughter’s school was 15 minutes in the other direction,” he said.He looked for local remote work but found the options were few before the pandemic. Then, in the fall 2021, Johnston received a call from Lighting New York, interviewed with Kloostra and accepted the job that would allow him to stay in his Milwaukee home.
Johnston has visited the company headquarters in Selinsgrove three times and said working remotely suits him. “My formative years were during the development of the internet. I feel comfortable with it and the two hours in the car commuting was an unproductive time for me,” he said.In addition to no longer having to commute every day, Johnston said, he eats healthier and has less stress working from home.“My productivity is so much better, but it is at a slight price,” said Johnston of the lack of physical interaction with others. “I don’t bump into anyone in my kitchen.”Still, he “can’t imagine a scenario” where he’ll return to a traditional office.Remote working isn’t for everyone.“I’m a people person. I like it better in the office,” said Kassy Keister who joined the company in September 2016.Like Kratzer, Keister, who works in the finance department, goes to the office a few days a week. “I need the interaction. I was starting to get into a funk working at home.”Kloostra said he’s created a designated work space at his home and enjoys the fewer distractions but appreciates the inspiration that comes from working in a traditional office setting.“You have to make a conscious effort. Sitting across the table from someone is important,” he said.Walking through the large office building filled with furniture and desktop computers that were once used daily and now only serves a fraction of the staff, Kloostra said he hasn’t yet decided what to do with the company buildings.A study by Harvard and Stanford found that the average business saves up to $11,000 annually by allowing employees to split their time between the office and home due to savings on the cost of rent, utilities, insurance and technology.Kloostra still hosts regular luncheons for staff — sending Door Dash certificates to employees living outside Pennsylvania — but said it isn’t the same as when everyone worked together under the same roof. “You can’t create that atmosphere remotely,” he said.For the annual Christmas bash, Kloostra pays travel expenses for out-of-state employees so they can attend in person.While the pandemic has made it harder to interact with colleagues, Keister said working at Lighting New York has always been about adapting to change.“It’s part of our culture,” she said.
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