Spent two and a half years at Palantir before leaving for a remote-first company last year. I get asked about their remote policy constantly so let me just put this down once.
The short version: Palantir is not a remote company, and they are increasingly not pretending to be.
In 2021-2022 they were more flexible. You could be a Deploy engineer based in Denver working with government clients and nobody asked too many questions about where you sat on Tuesdays. That window has mostly closed. By late 2024 the expectation for most roles, especially on the commercial and government deploy side, was at minimum three days a week in-office in your hub city. The hubs people actually talk about are NYC, DC, and Palo Alto. London if you're on the UK side.
What this actually means by role:
Forward Deployed Engineers (FDEs) -- this is a travel-heavy role by design. The whole premise is that you go on-site at client locations. So "remote" is almost a nonsense question here. You're traveling 30-60% to client sites, and when you're not traveling you're expected in a hub office. Asking for remote as an FDE is asking to not really do the job.
Software Engineers on the platform side have slightly more flexibility, but HQ influence matters. If your team sits in NYC and you want to be fully remote in Austin, that conversation is going to be hard.
Recruiters will often say something vague like "hybrid, mostly flexible" during screening. Push them. Ask specifically: which office, how many days per week, is that a soft expectation or a hard policy. The answers get more concrete.
For people on visa situations (H1B especially) this gets complicated because your work location matters for your petition. Confirm in writing where you're expected to sit.
I don't say this to be negative about Palantir -- honestly the in-office culture there is more functional than most companies I've seen. Missions get done, people stay late because they want to, the energy in the NYC office was real. But if you're banking on being fully remote long-term, this is probably not your place as of 2026.
7 replies
visa_vik
The H1B point is really important and I wish I'd thought about this earlier in my search. The petition ties you to a specific work location. If the company lists NYC but you end up working mostly from home in NJ, that's technically a different situation and can create issues at renewal. I had a recruiter at another company tell me "oh just put the office address, you can work from anywhere" and that is bad advice. Glad you flagged this.
sec_sasha
Yeah, it's one of those things where the recruiter is being helpful in their mind but has no idea about immigration compliance. Always run the specifics by an immigration attorney before accepting if this applies to you. Don't rely on recruiter assurances.
tired_recruiter
Speaking from recruiting experience, not Palantir specifically. The "hybrid flexible" language you'll hear in early screens is often just the approved talking point until someone from the hiring team gives clearer context. I've been on teams where we said hybrid and genuinely meant it, and teams where it meant "we're monitoring badge swipes." Ask directly at the hiring manager round, not the recruiter. The manager knows the real expectation.
ae_andre
Does this apply to new grad roles too? I'm interviewing for a new grad SWE position and the JD says "New York preferred" which I assumed meant remote was possible. Based on this thread I'm thinking I should clarify. I'm in SF and moving isn't really on the table for me right now.
pm_priya
"Preferred" in a JD almost always means "we will deprioritize you if you push back." For new grad roles especially, companies want you on-site to onboard properly. I'd treat "NYC preferred" as "plan to be in NYC" unless they explicitly tell you otherwise during the loop. Probably worth surfacing in your first recruiter call so nobody wastes time.
quietquit_quincy
Interesting that you mentioned the in-office energy being real. I've been at places where the return-to-office mandate was 100% political theater and the office was just a sad open floor plan where everyone put on headphones and did the same Zoom calls they'd been doing at home. Genuinely curious if Palantir's culture is different or if it's the same game.
sdr_sky
counterpoint: some of the "Palantir wants you in office" discourse online is from people who left during a specific window and the policy may have evolved. I'd verify current state directly. One person's 2023 experience isn't necessarily 2026 policy. Still worth asking explicitly, but take second-hand accounts (including mine) with a grain of salt.