After raising $50M, Reddit forces all remote workers to relocate to SF (update)

Reddit’s executive team has big plans for the community news-sharing site’s future … which apparently includes a new requirement on where employees can live.

Reddit has instituted a new policy recently that gives its remote workers an ultimatum: either relocate to San Francisco where Reddit is based or face termination. News of the policy change was first spotted by Basecamp founder David Heinemeier Hansson, who tweeted about the site’s decision to force remote workers.

Guess @reddit's "suitable talent only exists in San Fran" approach explains why they need $50M to hire more devs. Small pond, big trawler.

— DHH (@dhh) October 1, 2014

The news comes just one day after Reddit announced that it closed a major $50 million investment from a handful of influential tech industry entrepreneurs. Reddit CEO Yishan Wong spent quite a bit of time yesterday attempting to reassure loyal Reddit users that the new investment wouldn’t bring unwanted changes to the site or lessen its dedication to keeping the Reddit community vibrant and happy.

Wong chimed in on Twitter with confirmation of the new employee policy, which he said was decided independent of the new investment. “Intention is to get whole team under one roof for optimal teamwork. Our goal is to retain 100 percent of the team,” he said.

Reddit’s remote workers have until the end of the year to make the move, and the company is offering a relocation package for those employees. Those that chose against making San Francisco their new home will, however, get a severance package.

VentureBeat has reached out to Reddit for further details about the employee location requirement, and we will update this post with any new information.

Editorial Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that developer Ruben Ascencio was a Reddit employee, and that he was terminated for declining to relocate to San Francisco. We apologize for the error and have removed any mention from the main article.