Hacker Hours: A New Program from Bandwidth Engineering

Bandwidth has introduced a new 10% time program called Hacker Hours, designed to provide flexibility and freedom for employees to learn, experiment, and innovate. Unlike the previous Sabbatical program, which required two weeks of focused work on an idea, Hacker Hours allows Bandmates to use their allocated hours in more flexible ways, such as four hours a week or a week every other month. The voluntary nature of the program encourages participation without feeling obligatory, and it aims to remove barriers by providing brainstorming workshops, an internal innovation hub for idea sharing, and no requirement for presentations upon completion of projects. Since its launch in March, Hacker Hours has seen positive outcomes, including a variety of innovative ideas focused on improving team development and delivery of core products.