Venice woos foreign remote workers in pivot away from tourism

Pérez González is one of 16 Spanish, French and Greek employees of the IT company Cisco who have relocated to Venice in a pilot project run by the US company and Ca’ Foscari. Every day he picks a place to work from four locations offered by Cisco, including a 15th-century palazzo, meaning his commute is a short walk through Venetian architecture and canals. Gianmatteo Manghi, chief executive of Cisco Italy, said: “Covid made us realise we could work remotely and increase productivity and we imagine companies will start to attract staff by offering them a month a year in a beautiful city.”