Melon’s New Office in Sofia

For over 15 years, we’ve been part of the software outsourcing industry, organically growing both our portfolio and number of employees. Our headquarters is in Sofia and gradually we’ve also opened offices in Veliko Tarnovo and Skopje - North Macedonia. In the last couple of years we’ve expanded so much that we had to start looking for new offices to accommodate all our developers both in the cities of Sofia and Skopje. 

With the boom of shiny and trendy co-working spots, and the always-available Wi-Fi, even in parks, people have quickly adopted the opportunity of working from anywhere they feel like. Flexibility even has become a crucial requirement when looking for a new job. Our team members are not an exception.    

And our company’s attitude and approach has always been people-first. Not only on paper. What we value the most are our people and that’s why we try to meet their needs as much as possible. 

That’s why we have flexible work hours allowing them to work from home, coffee shops, or any other Wi-Fi enabled location. At the same time, we are very well aware of the fact that the office space matters – the right office space, especially. We knew that we had to create a new environment where people would love to show up, interact with each other and be productive. 

Previously, in Sofia we had an open office with a few conference rooms and a proper kitchen with relaxation and games areas. However, we’ve heard many times the argument that open spaces are distractive, damaging our developers’ attention span and output. But no one was very enthusiastic about going back to the traditional cubical office either. 

 Having in mind that our team members have diverse preferences about their working setting, for our new office in Sofia we decided to go with a hybrid version. Now we have casual spaces for individual work, open space for those who prefer the hustle and bustle, more meeting rooms of various sizes and way more spacious kitchen with designated areas for games and massages.   

Our team members can choose between different settings according to their type of work for the day or their mood and character, so that they can be more efficient and happy with the hours spent in the office. 

From our 15 years of experience, we’ve learned that the office environment is an essential component of the employee experience – colors, graphic elements, space optimization, light and air quality – all of them matter. We’ve come to know that we should not focus on one type of office space but instead create multiple working settings within the office that meet employees’ diverse needs, preferences and expectations.