Start-ups Embrace No‑Shoes Office Culture, From Rugs to Branded Slides

Some start-ups are asking employees and visitors to leave shoes at the door, covering offices with soft rugs or offering free slippers as part of a growing “no shoes” trend. Ben Lang, an employee at the shoes-off start-up Cursor, created the website noshoes.fun, which lists a dozen-plus start-ups with such policies, including AI firms like Replo and Composite.

At Spur, which uses A.I. to check websites for bugs, employees and guests slip into branded slides at the company’s Manhattan office. Co‑founder and chief executive Sneha Sivakumar said the policy “makes it feel like a second home” for her 10 employees and “disarms you in a positive way.” She also noted growing up in an Indian family in Singapore she often removed shoes in homes and temples to “show respect for a space.” Stanford economist Nick Bloom said the trend reflects “the pajama economy in action,” as people bring home habits back to the office after remote work during the pandemic.

He also linked it to long hours in tech, saying, “you might as well wear your slippers in the office as you’re not getting to wear them at home.” Silicon Valley has a history of casual dress: Notion and Stripe once had shoes‑optional practices, and Gusto described changing into slippers as an “early tradition” from its beginnings in a house.

But some companies and workers have since returned to wearing shoes at work.

Key Topics

AI, United States, Tech, Startups, Office Culture, Workplace, Remote Work