By combining AI-powered workforce insights with structured flexibility, Mercado Libre turned Work From Anywhere into a powerful retention strategy without raising salaries.
Often referred to as the Amazon of South America, Mercado Libre is Latin America’s largest e-commerce and fintech platform. But they’re not just a tech giant, they’re also emerging as a global benchmark for how to use flexibility and data to drive real business results.
According to Mercer’s 2025 Talent Trends Report, cutting-edge organisations are now using AI to uncover hidden gaps in their benefits strategy and employee experience. Mercado Libre is one of the standout examples. They used AI to identify where employees were not happy with their benefits, what they were really looking for, and which missing benefits were most likely to push people out the door (and vice versa retain their best talent).
Mercado Libre’s Work From Anywhere Policy: Summary
Mercado Libre’s approach to Work From Anywhere stands out because it links flexibility directly to a measurable business outcome. Rather than treating remote work as a general employee perk, the company used AI and workforce analytics to identify where flexibility could have the greatest impact on retention, then built a structured policy around that insight.
On the domestic side, Mercado Libre operates a hybrid model with clear guardrails rather than a blanket office mandate. Senior leaders are expected to spend between 20% and 40% of each quarter on site, while new hires are required to be in the office for 40% of their first 100 days. For many other roles, especially outside leadership, there is more discretion, although some level of in-person presence is still expected. The model is designed around intentional time together rather than rigid weekly attendance.
Internationally, Mercado Libre offers a much more clearly defined Work From Anywhere framework. Eligible employees can work from another country for up to 90 days per calendar year, either in one block or across shorter trips, provided the destination falls within approved low-risk geographies and the request is signed off in advance. Access is tied to tenure, manager approval, and central review across HR, Legal, Payroll, and Compliance, which gives the programme a level of structure that makes it scalable.
What makes Mercado Libre especially compelling is that the policy was not built in the abstract. It emerged from a targeted retention problem, particularly among software engineers, and was shaped as a practical response to that challenge. That combination of AI-driven insight, clear guardrails, and measurable outcomes is what turned flexibility into a serious retention lever rather than just another benefit.
WFA With Guardrails: Domestic Remote Work Policy
Mercado Libre didn’t eliminate the office. They redefined its role. Their domestic remote work policy is designed around intentional presence, not fixed rules.
Instead of mandating a set number of office days for all employees, the policy focuses on leadership-led flexibility. Senior leaders are expected to be on-site between 20% and 40% of each quarter, depending on the nature of their role and the needs of their teams. This encourages in-person connection where it adds value, without forcing unnecessary commutes.
The result is a more balanced, trust-based system. Teams are encouraged to come together for moments that matter, but not out of obligation. New hires still experience face-to-face onboarding.
In 2024, the company plans to grow its workforce by 30%. That means hiring 18,000 new people, across 18 countries, with varying employment laws, languages, and cultures.
Their 2024 Impact Report confirms that WFA is one of the company’s strategic pillars. It sits alongside environmental sustainability, digital inclusion, and logistics innovation.
This alignment between people, policy, and platform is what allows them to scale trust while managing risk.
The Numbers Speak for Themselves
Mercado Libre focused their WFA efforts where they could have the greatest impact, among high-value, high-risk talent pools such as software engineers.
Using AI and workforce analytics, they identified engineers who were likely to leave and created tailored WFA options to keep them engaged.
- Attrition fell from 14% to 4%
- 74% of engineers said they now plan to stay long-term
They did not rely on salary increases or superficial perks. Instead, they created a culture of autonomy, underpinned by trust and process. It worked.
What AI Revealed About Mercado Libre’s Retention Struggles
Mercado Libre didn’t start with a Work From Anywhere strategy. They started with a problem: key talent was leaving, and nobody fully understood why. Across the business, employees had access to different benefits depending on their region, role, and manager. Some had generous flexibility. Others had very little. Attrition was spiking in high-value roles like software engineering, but traditional HR analytics weren’t giving clear answers.
So Mercado Libre did something different. They fed all their workforce data into an AI model – everything from exit interviews and employee feedback to benefit usage and engagement scores. The goal wasn’t just to count who was leaving. It was to understand why they were leaving, and what would have made them stay.
Instead of relying on standard metrics, the AI model analysed patterns that would have been hard to detect manually. One standout insight was that software engineers had a 14% voluntary turnover rate. But the problem wasn’t pay – it was flexibility. More specifically, the lack of a structured international remote work option that suited the needs of their roles.
The AI proposed a clear and targeted solution: launch a six-month Work From Anywhere programme for that segment.
Mercado Libre acted quickly. Within months of rolling out the new benefit, attrition among software engineers dropped from 14% to 4%. And 74% of those engineers now say they plan to stay for three or more years.
This wasn’t a short-term fix. It was the result of long-range planning, collaboration across teams, and a strong commitment to using technology to create a better employee experience.
Flexibility Meets Discipline: The WFA Framework Behind the Results
Mercado Libre’s domestic remote work policy requires employees to be in the office at least 40% of the time each quarter. New hires are expected to be on-site for 40% of their first 100 days, while non-leadership roles have no fixed requirement but must maintain some physical presence. This hybrid approach gives teams flexibility while ensuring consistency across regions. You can find more about their approach on Mercado Libre’s careers page.
Mercado Libre didn’t launch flexibility company-wide overnight. It began with a surgically targeted pilot for software engineers, a high-impact group where retention mattered most. The team used this controlled rollout to test the model, refine the process, and prove the value before expanding more broadly. The pilot showed that structure and trust could co-exist, and that flexibility, when done right, could drive real business impact.
Today, around 40% of the workforce follows a hybrid model, while the rest remain fully on-site in logistics roles. Senior leaders are expected to be in the office at least 40% of the time per quarter, and new hires must spend 40% of their first 100 days in the office. Non-leadership roles have no fixed minimum, but some physical presence is still required. Within these parameters, employees are given autonomy to manage their own schedules, but with that freedom comes clear expectations around performance, connectivity, and conduct. Regular assessments ensure standards are met, reinforcing a culture where flexibility is earned through consistent results.
Alongside the hybrid model, Mercado Libre offers a structured Work From Anywhere (WFA) programme supported by four core pillars:
- WFA Days: Employees can work from anywhere in the world for up to 90 days per calendar year, either consecutively or split into shorter trips.
- Approved Geographies: Restricted to countries with low legal, tax, and operational risk based on internal feasibility assessments and third-party input.
- Eligibility Criteria: Open to employees with at least six months of tenure. All requests require prior approval from their manager and alignment with team performance.
- Central Coordination: A dedicated team coordinates across HR, Legal, Payroll, and Compliance to ensure consistent decision-making and audit readiness.
- Employee Enablement: Clear documentation, FAQs, and structured workflows are in place to guide employees and managers through the WFA process.
This structure didn’t just reduce risk. It built trust. Employees understood what was possible. Leaders had clear guidance. And the business had a framework it could scale across markets without losing control. Flexibility became more than a benefit. It became a system.
What Other Employers Can Learn
Mercado Libre’s story isn’t just about offering flexibility. It’s about using internal data to reshape Total Rewards in a way that reduces attrition and boosts long-term engagement. By applying AI to employee feedback, mobility patterns, and exit data, they uncovered where their benefits offering was falling short and which missing elements were linked to people leaving.
Flexibility emerged as one of the key gaps. But instead of reacting with one-off perks, they built a structured WFA programme that addressed the need directly. It was designed to be scalable, fair, and aligned to business goals.
This approach stands in contrast to how many organisations implement flexible work today. Too often, decisions are based on executive preferences, competitor activity, or isolated employee requests. But meaningful results require better inputs. Companies need to start with their own data.
Data is very often the key to helping payroll and global mobility leaders the a seat at the table, something we talk extensively about in our monthly WFA roundtables as well as in our. As the saying goes, if it’s not measured, it’s not managed.
This is even more true in the age of AI.
Looking holistically at Mercado Libre, below are five takeaways from Mercado Libre’s approach:
Mercado Libre didn’t guess. They used their data to listen, act, and measure. And that’s what turned flexibility into a long-term advantage.
Donal Brady is Co-Founder and Head of Product at Work From Anywhere, a platform to help companies execute a successful workation policy. He has deep expertise and experience in the world of remote work having spent nearly twenty years working in finance leadership roles with global multinationals like PwC, before entering the world of global mobility with International SOS and then pivoting into the software industry with Accel-KKR backed Smart Communications. He walks the walk with Work From Anywhere, speaking 5 languages, having travelled to 65+ countries and worked in 10.
