Los Angeles, CA. Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook) has inked a deal with New Zealand staff parking optimisation
startup Parkable to help the technology giant solve parking woes for its 60,000+ employees across all locations in which
it has physical offices.
The announcement was made this week during NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's trade delegations to the US, focused on
high-tech exports.
“Never before has the office parking conundrum been so difficult; sparked by employees globally returning to offices in
a very different manner to pre-Covid ways of working,” explains Toby LittiIn, Co-Founder and CEO of Parkable. “Companies
are facing very real challenges in ensuring their office parking is as flexible as their hybrid working policies. Too
often, parking sits empty, and can't be easily shared between those coming into the office.”Toby LittiIn, Co-Founder and CEO of Parkable
Parkable solves this challenge by providing an efficient, fair system for managing and allocating parking for a newly
flexible workforce. Employees are able to plan a more seamless commute by booking parking in advance, should they choose
to come to the office.
The company also believes its solution pays dividends in employee happiness. “One of the most valuable lessons from the
pandemic has been that employee experience is key to attracting and retaining talent. For many, the work day starts long
before their first meeting.
A modern approach to optimising this experience includes improving employee commute and parking options. We applaud Meta
for taking a forward thinking approach to looking after its people,” comments Toby.
Meta is a significant deal for Parkable, but not its first global customer. “We’ve extended very quickly into some large
markets including the UK, Australia and the US, with brands including KPMG trusting us to streamline how they manage
their parking globally. For businesses like Meta that have onsite staff parking, hybrid work creates a management
challenge which Parkable can automate. We also offer an effective, ready-to-implement way of reducing administration and
simplifying the management of EV charging assets,” comments Toby.
The sustainability benefits inherent in Parkable are significant. “The old model of one parking space for every employee
is solved using tech to better manage allocations and the more efficient sharing of space. Parkable enables parking
spots to be pre-booked, reducing congestion created by circling for a park. It also lets people know not to drive to
work when there are no spaces available, and to use alternative transport - encouraging active and public transport
use,” says Toby.
“We’re excited to have been chosen by one of the largest technology companies on the planet - one that is building the
metaverse - to solve a very real challenge in the ‘real world’,” concludes Toby.